DHAKA: The International Cricket Council on Thursday announced a 10-month ban on Bangladesh pace bowler Shohidul Islam from all cricketing activities after he failed a dope test conducted in March.

The 27-year-old pacer, who has appeared in one Twenty20 international against Pakistan in November and was part of the Test and T20 squads for Bangladesh’s ongoing West Indies tour, provided a urine sample as part of the ICC’s out-of-competition testing programme in Dhaka on March 4.

A subsequent test found the sample contained clomifene, a prohibited substance both in-competition and out-of-competition by the World Anti-Doping Agency, the ICC said in a statement.

Shohidul admitted the violation and accepted a 10-month suspension, which takes effect from May 28, the date of his acceptance of a voluntary provisional suspension.

He will remain suspended until March 28, 2023.

The ICC said it accepted Shohidul had demonstrated no significant fault or negligence as the prohibited substance was found in a medicine he had been legitimately prescribed for therapeutic reasons.

“Shohidul was able to satisfy the ICC that he had no intention to enhance his sporting performance by using prohibited substances,” the sport’s governing body said.

The pacer accepted that he had failed to satisfy the high levels of personal responsibility incumbent upon him as an international cricketer under the anti-doping rules, the ICC added.

Shohidul is the second Bangladeshi cricketer to face a doping ban in recent years.

In 2020, the Bangladesh Cricket Board slapped a two-year ban on promising pacer Kazi Anik Islam, the country’s leading wicket-taker in the 2018 Under-19 World Cup, after he tested positive for methamphetamine during a local first-class match.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2022