BCCI names banned Punjab cricketer in Duleep Trophy squad

Punjab’s prolific wicketkeeper-batsman Abhishek Gupta was handed over eight months suspension for the doping violation. He was tested positive during his cricketing stint for his state in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. After the results were put forth, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) handed him a suspension which led him out of selection contentions.

The 27-year-old’s eight-month ban is set to expire only on September 14 – that is, after the conclusion of the forthcoming Duleep Trophy, however, the batsman was named in India Red Squad. The tournament is scheduled to begin on August 17 and will continue till September 8. It means that the selection committee will now have to relook India Red’s squad as they search for an appropriate replacement.

His urine sample was provided as part of the BCCI’s testing programme on January 15 and the same was found to contain Terbutaline, which is among the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) list of the prohibited substance. Subsequently, he was provisionally suspended on January 17.

After Abhishek revealed that he has taken the substance inadvertently, as part of the medication prescribed by his doctor, the board decided to backdate the start of the suspension to January 15, 2018.

Abhishek made his First-Class debut in the year 2017 and announced his stature at this level after he went onto to score a double-hundred on his debut. Having played six games thus far, Gupta has scored close to 500 runs scored at a dazzling average of 52.33. He has also represented Punjab in nine List-A games and six T20 matches.

Duleep Trophy Squads

India Blue: Faiz Fazal (Captain), Abhishek Raman, Anmolpreet Singh, Ganesh Satish, N. Gangta, Dhruv Shorey, K.S. Bharat (WK), Akshay Wakhare, Saurav Kumar, Swapnil Singh, Basil Thampi, B Ayappa, Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni

India Red: Abhinav Mukund (Captain), R.R. Sanjay, Ashutosh Singh, Baba Aparajith, Writtick Chatterjee, B. Sandeep, Abhishek Gupta (WK), S Nadeem, Mihir Hirwani, Parvez Rasool, R Gurbani, A Mithun, Ishan Porel, Y. Prithvi Raj

India Green: Parthiv Patel (Captain & WK), Prashant Chopra, Priyank Panchal, Sudeep Chatterjee, Gurkeerat Mann, Baba Indrajit, V.P. Solanki, Jajal Saxena, Karn Sharma, Vikas Mishra, K. Vignesh, Ankit Rajpoot, Ashok Dinda, Atith Sheth

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