Shohidul Islam banned for 10 months for failing doping test

The ICC has banned Bangladesh fast bowler Shohidul Islam for 10 months for failing a dope test in March. Shohidul, who admitted to breaching Article 2.1 of the ICC Anti-Doping Code and accepted the suspension, will be available from March 28 next year, after his sentence was backdated to May 28, the date of his acceptance of the voluntary provisional suspension.

According to the ICC media release, Shohidul had provided a urine sample in an out-of-competition testing programme in Dhaka on March 4. The sample contained Clomifene, which according to the governing body is a specified substance under WADA's prohibited list and is prohibited both in-competition and out-of-competition.

ESPNcricinfo has learned that the prohibited substance was found in a medicine that Shohidul had taken, prescribed by his own doctor, earlier this year.

In making the decision, the ICC accepted that Shohidul had "demonstrated no significant fault or negligence, having inadvertently ingested the prohibited substance which was contained in a medicine he had been legitimately prescribed for therapeutic reasons."

The ICC added that Shohidul was able to satisfy that he had "no intention to enhance his sporting performance by using prohibited substances. However, Shohidul 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."

Shohidul, who made his only T20I appearance against Pakistan last year in Dhaka, has been part of several Bangladesh squads over the last 18 months. He has taken 93 wickets and scored one century from 35 first-class matches, apart from his 69 wickets from 46 T20s. Earlier this year, he was hailed after bowling Comilla Victorians to their third BPL title. Shohidul is considered one of the bright fast-bowling prospects in Bangladesh.