Ravindra Jadeja underwent dope test most times in last 3 months, none for Virat Kohli - Reports

Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja has underwent dope test most number of times from January to May of this year.

In a surprising revelation, it has come to light that Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja underwent a significantly higher number of doping tests compared to his peers between January and May 2023. During this period, the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) conducted three tests on Jadeja, all involving urine samples taken when he was not competing. This frequency of testing raises questions, especially when star players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have seemingly avoided the tests.

The NADA data indicates that Rohit Sharma, the captain of the Indian One Day International (ODI) and Test teams, and Virat Kohli, another leading Indian cricketer, were not tested for doping during this five-month window. This lack of testing for such prominent figures in Indian cricket, especially when considering Kohli wasn’t tested in the preceding years either, has stirred concerns about consistency and transparency in the testing process.

While Jadeja’s repeated tests have sparked attention, Rohit Sharma did undergo three tests in the same period, and Virat Kohli did not undergo any tests. However, with India set to host the World Cup in October–November 2023, it is possible that testing frequency will surge across the time.

Additionally, several prominent Indian cricketers were subjected to testing during the January–May period. This list includes Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Mohammed Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Wriddhiman Saha, Dinesh Karthik, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ambati Rayudu, Piyush Chawla, and Manish Pandey.

The discrepancy in testing frequency also extends to foreign players and other Indian cricketers. Notable overseas players, primarily participating in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, were tested for doping. Among them were David Wiese, David Miller, Cameron Green, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, David Warner, Rashid Khan, David Willey, Trent Boult, Marcus Stoinis, Mark Wood, Adam Zampa, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, and Jofra Archer, some of whom underwent blood tests as well.

Interestingly, in the women’s cricket domain, only captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana were subjected to tests during this period. These tests, which involved urine samples, were carried out on January 12 in Mumbai.

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