Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah will miss the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup after he was banned for three months by the International Cricket Council.
The 29-year-old was handed the punishment following the result of a drugs test that revealed he had tested positive for chlortalidone, which is on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of prohibited diuretics.
Shah admitted the charge, although he insisted that he had accidentally taken his wife's blood pressure medication, rather than deliberately trying to enhance his performance.
"While making the decision, the ICC accepted that Mr Shah had inadvertently ingested the 'specified substance' for therapeutic reasons, specifically to treat his blood pressure," read an ICC statement.
"He was able to satisfy the ICC through evidence and submissions prepared on his behalf by the Pakistan Cricket Board that he had no intention to enhance his sporting performance or to mask the use of another performance-enhancing substance and had, instead, mistakenly taken his wife's blood pressure medication that was identical in appearance to his own but which contained the prohibited substance chlortalidone.
"However, Mr Shah has accepted that he had failed to satisfy the high levels of personal responsibility incumbent upon him as an international cricketer subject to anti-doping rules."
Shah will be available for selection when Pakistan tour England in the summer.
Liam Apicella
