BCCI launches drive on doping awareness

The Indian cricket Board may have its hands full with the much-hyped coach hunt and the team8217;s post-World Cup image makeover. But in a heartening and unusually low-key..

The Indian cricket Board may have its hands full with the much-hyped coach hunt and the team8217;s post-World Cup image makeover. But in a heartening and unusually low-key development, the Sharad Pawar-led administration is on the verge of launching a mission on anti-doping programmes for the country8217;s first-class cricketers.

In a first for domestic cricket in India, the BCCI has chalked out a new roadmap with the aim of making the country8217;s entire domestic circuit aware of the pitfalls of the fast-growing threat of doping in cricket.

With the target of getting things started as early as September-end this year, the Board8217;s new challenge will span all first-class players, officials involved in the game8217;s domestic engagements, and of course, the 30 state associations. The drive targets to equip all players and officials with a database of what drugs to take and what to avoid, as per World Anti-Doping Agency WADA specifications.

At the helm of the BCCI8217;s mission is renowned sports doctor Kinjal Suratwala, who gave The Indian Express a detailed lowdown of the project.

8220;Awareness about doping in cricket is the need of the hour, specially for first-class cricketers. More so, because the Indian Board has signed up with WADA. The challenge is to get the awareness campaign started before the new season gets underway,8221; Dr Suratwala told this daily on the sidelines of a session with the under-19 youngsters of the ongoing zonal camp here.

The Board8217;s decision to pursue a separate anti-doping drive at the domestic level comes months after the controversy surrounding Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammed Asif sent shockwaves across the international cricket community.

Dr Suratwala, the Mumbai-born sports physio, reckons that the pressure of signing the WADA code of conduct and the International Cricket Council8217;s ICC proactive role in doping have combinedly prompted the BCCI to act fast.

Story continues below this ad

8220;There8217;s pressure because we signed under WADA last year. And then the ICC sent all the member nations DVDs with everything you need to know about doping in cricket.

8220;It8217;s this DVD that we will distribute among all the state associations and the players,8221; said Dr Suratwala, who has been associated with the National Cricket Academy NCA for the past three years.