Mumbai and India batsman Prithvi Shaw announced his return back to cricket with authority after smashing 63 runs off 39 balls during his team’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019 match against Assam on Sunday. His innings comprised of seven boundaries and a couple of sixes as Mumbai piled on a total of 206/5 in 20 overs.
On the occasion of his 20th birthday, Shaw took to social media to share a video of himself practicing in the nets. “I turn 20 today. I assure it will be Prithvi Shaw 2.0 going forward. Thank u for all the good wishes & support. Will be back in action soon.” he had tweeted.
Earlier, Shaw was handed over backdated suspension for a doping violation by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). “Terbutaline, a specified substance, is prohibited both In & Out of Competition in the WADA Prohibited List of Substances,” the BCCI release said.
The right-handed batsman was charged on July 16 under the BCCI Anti-Doping Rules (ADR) Article 2.1 and provisionally suspended pending determination of the charge. Shaw admitted “inadvertent, being caused by his ingestion of the over the counter cough syrup he had taken for his cough.”
The BCCI found his explanation “satisfactory” “Terbutaline inadvertently to treat an Respiratory Tract Infection and not as a performance-enhancing drug.” The board considered all of the evidence and took “expert external advice” before accepting Shaw’s explanation and agreed that a “period of ineligibility of eight months should apply, together with disqualification of certain results”.
“Because Mr. Shaw promptly admitted his ADRV upon being confronted with it by the BCCI, there is discretion under BCCI ADR Article 10.10.2 to back-date the start of the period of Ineligibility to the date of sample collection (22nd February 2019). However, the BCCI ADR Article 10.10.2 also requires Mr. Shaw to actually serve one half of the period of ineligibility. Therefore, further to BCCI ADR Article 10.10.2, the eight-month period of Ineligibility will be deemed to have started to run on 16th March 2019, so that it will end at midnight on 15th November 2019,” the BCCI statement said.
