In a shocking report released on Tuesday, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) exposed evidence of inadequate drug testing within India’s anti-doping program, specifically targeting the country’s athletes.
In a report published by The Indian Express, the data released under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, showed the irregularities in the dope tests conducted on India’s cricketers during 2021 and 2022.
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Since August 2019, cricket has been brought under the jurisdiction of the government-run National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA). While it was earlier stated that all cricketers would be tested by NADA, the data showed it otherwise.
According to the data published by Indian Express, a total of 5,961 tests were conducted between 2021 and 2022, with only 114 of those focusing on cricketers. On the other hand, 1,717 tests were conducted on athletes, making athletics the sport with the highest number of drug tests.
Rohit Sharma most tested, 0 tests on 12 players
Indian cricket team’s Test captain, Rohit Sharma, emerged as the most-tested cricketer during the two-year period, facing six visits from dope control officers in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai, and the UAE. Meanwhile, seven players, including Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, and Cheteshwar Pujara, were tested only once.
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Shockingly, NADA conducted 0 tests on 12 out of the 25 male players contracted with the BCCI. This list included prominent names like former captain Virat Kohli, current limited-overs skipper Hardik Pandya, fast bowlers Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, and Arshdeep Singh, as well as batters Shreyas Iyer and Deepak Hooda, wicket-keeper batsmen Sanju Samson and Srikar Bharat, and all-rounder Washington Sundar.
In stark contrast, every player in the women’s national team was subjected to the drug testing process at least once during this period. Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana were tested the maximum number of times, each undergoing the process three times.
However, this data does not imply any wrongdoing on the part of the players. But it does show NADA’s failure to take sufficient action to catch potential offenders.
Athletes vs Cricketers – Disparity in Testing
The lack of testing of Indian cricketers also points out a disparity in testing protocols by NADA. India’s Olympic athletes find themselves under constant NADA scrutiny. In contrast, certain star male cricketers have seemingly evaded such rigorous anti-doping checks.
During January 2021 to December 2022, anti-doping authorities visited Olympic silver medallist Ravi Dahiya’s training bases in New Delhi and Sonepat 18 times, collecting the samples, while cricket stars remained relatively untouched by such measures.
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