Former New Zealand cricketer Brendon McCullum has opened up about his positive drug test in IPL 2016 when he played for Gujarat Lions.

During that time, the higher level of Salbutamol had been found in McCullum’s urine sample. World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has allowed a limited maximum dose of Salbutamol, a drug used to treat symptoms of asthma, but the level was exceeded in McCullum’s urine sample.

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Being an asthma patient, the former Kiwi batsman had taken an extra dose of Salbutamol due to the high air pollution in Delhi. In January 2017, McCullum was cleared from the anti-doping violation after BCCI took the help of medical experts to issue a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE).

Speaking to Stuff.co.nz, McCullum clarified, “There was a bit of a process to go through to make sure they had all the information and ticked off the areas they wanted to see, but we went through it all and [the BCCI] were actually pretty good to work with, in the end.”

He further added, “I certainly don’t see it as a failed drug test. It was just a case of we just need to seek clarification and apply for this. I have no ill-feeling about [the process] and I also have no guilt or remorse about it because I needed a puff of my inhaler at that time.”

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Though he has been cleared for that incident, McCullum still decided to clarify the news publicly to eliminate further rumours.

McCullum said on that, “I’ve heard this sort of rumbling around in the background for a while and I actually said to my wife, ‘I don’t know why we don’t just deal with this now, I’ve got nothing to hide and it is better off just talking about stuff rather than having other people talking about it’. Otherwise, it just grows and festers.

“As far as I am concerned it was just a matter of making sure we got everything signed off properly, rather than it being a failed drug test.”