Team India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja most tested Indian cricketer in 2023

Seasoned Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja gave dope samples thrice between January and May this year, thus becoming the most-tested Indian cricketer in 2023 so far. The details became available after data pertaining to the same was released by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).

All of Jadeja's three samples were of urine, and taken 'Out Of Competition' (OOC) on February 19, March 26, and April 26.

Jadeja was part of the Indian team during the Test matches and the ODIs in West Indies. However, he has been rested for the ongoing T20I series, with the Men in Blue trying out some youngsters.

As per a report in PTI, a total of 55 cricketers (male and female) underwent dope testing in the first five months of 2023. Referring to the list put up by NADA on its website, the news agency added that more than half the samples were taken 'Out Of Competition'. Of the same collected, seven were blood samples and the remaining urine.

As per the data, NADA collected 54 and 60 dope samples respectively from cricketers in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

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Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were not tested during the first five months of 2023

The report further added that India captain Rohit Sharma and seasoned batter Virat Kohli were not tested during the first five months of the year. Rohit was the most tested cricketer in 2021 and 2022, while Kohli was not tested in the two years.

Also, Hardik Pandya, who has been captaining India in T20Is, gave an 'Out Of Competition' urine sample in the month of April.

Speaking of women’s cricket, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana gave one test each. Their 'Out Of Competition' urine samples were collected in Mumbai in January.

As per the report, 20 samples were taken ‘In Competition’. It is believed that most of these tests were conducted during the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Mohammed Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and T Natarajan are some of the prominent Indian cricketers who underwent dope tests from January to May this year.

Among foreign players, David Miller, Cameron Green, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, David Warner, Rashid Khan, Trent Boult, Marcus Stoinis, and Mark Wood underwent dope tests.