The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has banned the left-arm spinner Raza Hasan for two years, after he failed an in-competition doping test during the domestic Pentangular One-Day Cup in early 2015. Hasan failed to respond to  an adverse analytical finding within a two-week time limit which, under Article 7.7 of the PCB’s Anti-Doping Rules, is tantamount to an admission of guilt.

‘Therefore, in accordance with the Anti-Doping Rules and with the approval of the competent authority, Mr. Raza Hassan is being imposed with a ban that will make him ineligible to participate in the sport of cricket for a period of two (2) years’, read a PCB statement. ‘During the period of ineligibility, he will not be entitled to participate in any capacity, in any cricket match or activity (other than authorised anti-doping education or rehabilitation programmes) authorised or organised by the PCB’.

Hasan, who plays for Punjab Badshah in the Cup, was tested by an independent collecting agency during a match played on 7 January 2015 between Punjab Badshah and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Fighters in Karachi. An independent collecting agency is authorised to conduct such testing on behalf of the PCB under its Anti-Doping Rules (Article 5.1.5).

A urine sample from Hasan was forwarded to a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited laboratory for analysis, which returned an ‘adverse analytical finding for the presence of a prohibited substance’, read the PCB statement. The PCB did not name the substance, but Sky Sports News reported that it was cocaine and that the bowler could face a police investigation.

The PCB stated that, as per the PCB’s Anti-Doping Rules (Article 7.2.3), Hasan was issued with a written Notice of Charge by the PCB on 24 March 2015. He was given 14 days to request in writing for a hearing before the PCB’s Anti-Doping Tribunal (Article 7.7.1), which he failed to do. Hasan has played 10 Twenty20 matches for Pakistan and one One-Day International, his most recent appearance for his country in December 2014.