Kashif Siddiq banned for failing dope test

Kashif Siddiq, the captain of State Bank of Pakistan, has been banned for two years after failing a dope test. He was initially provisionally suspended from playing any form of cricket in January, but the tribunal hearing the batsman found him guilty of violating the PCB's Anti-Doping code. The ban is effective from January 8, 2014.

Siddiq, 32, a veteran of 131 first-class matches, underwent a random dope test during the Faysal Bank T20 Cup for Departments in November 2013. The report suggested a breach of the anti-doping code and the PCB formed a three-man committee comprising Shahid Karim (Advocate, Supreme Court), former wicketkeeper Wasim Bari, and Dr Ucksy Mallick to hear Siddiq. It was found that he used the substances Nandralone and Stanozolol.

"In accordance with its Anti-Doping Rules, the Pakistan Cricket Board conducted random dope testing during the Faysal Bank T20 Cup held at Lahore in November 2013 in order to detect use of Prohibited Substances," the PCB stated in a release. "An adverse analytical finding was reported by the National Dope Testing Laboratory (WADA-accredited laboratory) in New Delhi, India, against the sample collected from Kashif Sadique, a player of State Bank of Pakistan.

"Accordingly, Kashif Sadique was issued a notice of charge by the PCB in January 2014 wherein he was provisionally suspended from participating in any form of cricket pending the proceedings of the Anti-Doping Tribunal, who after conducting detailed personal hearings found Kashif Sadique (presence of a prohibited substance or its Metabolites or Markers in a Cricketer's Sample) and imposed a ban of 2 years."