Recent data has raised concerns over the lack of doping tests conducted on Indian athletes in 2021 and 2022, particularly in cricket. According to information obtained through the Right to Information (RTI) Act by The Indian Express, out of a total of 5,961 tests conducted in the mentioned years, only 114 tests were carried out on Indian cricketers, representing a mere 1.91 percent.
While cricket falls under the purview of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) since 2019, the number of tests performed on cricketers is notably low compared to other sports. Athletics, for instance, saw the highest number of tests in the country, with 1,717 conducted during the same period.
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The report highlights that Rohit Sharma emerged as the most-tested Indian cricketer, having undergone six visits from dope control officers. In contrast, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, and Cheteshwar Pujara faced only one test each, while Virat Kohli, the Indian cricket team’s captain, was surprisingly not tested even once in the last two years.
It is noteworthy that Kohli is not the only centrally contracted men’s cricketer who remained untested for doping. The data reveals that 12 out of the 25 centrally contracted Indian male players, including names like Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, and Umesh Yadav, were not subjected to any doping tests in the same period.
While Rohit Sharma was tested six times for doping during the last two years, Virat Kohli wasn’t tested even once as per the report.
— Abhishek Hanbar (@abhi_ph17) July 20, 2023
On the other hand, the situation seems different for the female cricketers under contract with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Every female player was tested during this period, with India’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana undergoing three tests each.
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The data does not suggest any misconduct by Indian cricketers; however, it does raise concerns about the efficacy of NADA in detecting potential wrongdoers. The World Anti-Doping Agency’s claim about NADA’s insufficiency in catching those violating doping regulations gains credibility with these statistics.
