Yusuf Pathan failed dope test last season

But it is learnt that neither Pathan nor the team doctor took prior permission. “There was a substance which was in the medicine which falls under the banned list. He took that particular medicine on the advice of the team doctor. He was not aware that the medicine he took had something which was banned,” the source said.

Terbutaline, a specified substance, is a bronchodilator and is taken when people have trouble breathing or for medical condition such as asthma. It is also present in commonly-used expectorants administered for cough and cold.

Last year, Indian football team goalkeeper Subrata Pal had also tested positive for the same susbstance. He was let off after provisional suspension. The 30-year-old Paul, an Arjuna Awardee, had said that he has been given treatment for cough which had troubled him.

Pathan is the second Indian cricketer to have failed a dope test. In 2013, Delhi medium-pacer Pradeep Sangwan was banned for 18 months after he returned a positive test.

Pathan has played 57 ODIs and 22 T20 Internationals for India. His last international appearance was against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2012. He played the IPL because the test results came only later.