The Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah has been provisionally suspended by the International Cricket Council after testing positive for a banned diuretic during the one-day series with England in the United Arab Emirates last month.
Shah, currently ranked No3 in the ICC Test bowling rankings, provided a sample to testers on 13 November, after the second one-day international in Abu Dhabi. It was found to contain chlortalidone, a potential masking agent listed on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of banned substances.
Diuretics can be used to hide the presence of other performance-enhancing drugs such as steroids. The 29-year-old Pakistani will now go through an ICC disciplinary process and faces the possibility of a two-year ban from all competitions if found guilty.
Shah can request for his B sample to be checked, and if that test does not confirm a positive result then the suspension would be lifted with immediate effect. He also has the right to request a hearing before an anti-doping tribunal.
An ICC statement read: “The International Cricket Council today announced that Pakistan’s bowler Yasir Shah has been charged with an anti-doping rule violation under the ICC Anti-Doping Code .
“The sample Yasir provided in an in-competition test, which was conducted on 13 November 2015, was found to contain the presence of chlortalidone, a prohibited substance which appears in section 5 of the Wada prohibited list [in the category of specified substances].
“In accordance with the ICC anti-doping code, pending the outcome of the disciplinary process, Yasir has been provisionally suspended.
“The matter will now be dealt with in accordance with the process set down in the code, and until such time as the process is resolved, the ICC will make no further comment on this matter.”
Shah, who cannot play in any competitions until his case is heard, shone in the Test matches against England that preceded the limited-overs series, taking 15 wickets in two games after a back injury had ruled him out of the opening fixture.
The Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne was banned for 12 months in 2003 after testing positive for Moduretic – another type of diuretic – prior to that year’s World Cup. Warne claimed he had taken two tablets, given to him by his mother, to lose weight.
