NADA Issues Notices To Yashasvi Jaiswal And Shafali Verma For Missing Dope Tests

The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) has issued notices to cricketers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shafali Verma for failing to present for scheduled dope tests last year, leading to their first whereabouts failure.

According to a report by PTI, these two cricketers, who are part of NADA's Registered Testing Pool (RTP) neither turned up for the tests nor gave any explanations for not showing up, leading to the notices.

"Notices have been issued to the concerned athletes, and the same has been intimated to the national federation (the BCCI) and the ICC," a well-placed source told PTI even though NADA declined comment citing confidentiality of the procedure.

BCCI Receives Intimation Of The Matter

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been made aware of the situation, confirmed to PTI by a board official.

The official informed that BCCI will initiate action on this matter and will seek explanations from the cricketers. He also emphasized the requirement to adhere to the necessary doping protocols as cricket is back in the Olympics.

"Yes, we have received notification from NADA on missed tests. We will check with them as to how it happened, and will take necessary steps so that such things do not happen in future.

"Cricket is back in the Olympics and we need to adhere to all the protocols so that everything goes on smoothly," the BCCI source told PTI, referring to cricket's inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games roster.

Yashasvi Jaiswal is currently part of the Rajasthan Royals' set up in the IPL, while Shafali Verma recently toured South Africa with the Indian women's team for the limited-overs series. Athletes, who were part of NADA's RTP, are bound to share their whereabouts with the agency and be available for testing in a specified window every day.

While it was the first missed test for both these players, doing it thrice is considered a serious doping violation and can lead to suspensions. For the ongoing quarter, 13 Indian players are a part of NADA's RTP in a list which features 348 athletes in total.

Axar Patel and Abhishek Sharma, who were part of India's recent successful World Cup campaign, are some of the recent additions of cricketers in the list, mainly dominated by athletes. Both these players replaced Smriti Mandhana and Shreyas Iyer in the latest list.

Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Arshdeep Singh, and Tilak Verma are some of the notable cricketers already included in the group.

From the women's team, which won a historic ODI World Cup last year, all-rounder Deepti Sharma, Shafali and Renuka Singh Thakur are there in the RTP.