Yusuf Pathan fans can scarcely believe it, as BCCI has just informed the Baroda Cricket Association that Yusuf had failed a dope test and should not be considered for selection.
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It has been more than ten years since Yusuf Pathan broke out on the international scene, as his hard hitting batting displays caught the imagination of Indian fans.
Pathan famously made his debut in the final of the T20 World Cup in South Africa, as he was a last minute replacement for the injured Virender Sehwag.
But Pathan really made a name for himself in the first edition of the IPL, when he was a crucial part of the Rajasthan Royals side that became unlikely champions of the T20 league.
He eventually made the step up to the national side, first in the T20 format and then the 50 over format, as Yusuf Pathan became a main stay in the Indian side.
He was part of the 2011 World Cup winning side, as Yusuf played a few matches during the initial rounds of the tournament, before being dropped for Suresh Raina.
Despite falling out of the national side, Yusuf still commanded a huge fee in the IPL, where he was part of KKR for the last seven years. While he initially failed to live up to his enormous price tag, Yusuf started to fire in the last few years and played a big role in KKRs’s 2014 IPL triumph.
But now this news of failing a dope test has come at the worst possible time for the soft spoken giant, as he will surely not have his name in the IPL auction, set to take place later this month.
The allrounder was tested positive for a banned substance Terbutaline during the Ranji Trophy last year.
According to reports, Pathan, who played just one Ranji Trophy game for Baroda last season, “consumed a medicine named Brozeet which has Terbutaline in it. While Terbutaline is a banned substance, a player is allowed to take it if he has taken prior permission, neither Pathan nor the team doctor took prior permission,” says the report.
Pathan is now the second Indian cricketer to be test positive, after Pradeep Sangwan was handed an 18-month ban during the 2012 IPL.
This news will surely be a huge blow to Yusuf, as the big hitting all-rounder will have to spend some time out of the game.
Let’s hope for his fans sake that he makes a comeback soon enough.
