KATACHI: Pakistani spinner Mohammad Nawaz has been banned for three months over a doping violation, the International Cricket Council said Friday, backdating the punishment from May this year. The ICC said Nawaz tested positive during the men’s T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka on February 7. “Nawaz had tested positive for a Substance of Abuse (Carboxy-THC) under the ICC Anti-Doping Code following a doping test carried out after Pakistan’s match against the Netherlands in Colombo,” the ICC said. The ICC said Nawaz accepted the offense. “With Nawaz accepting the sanction and agreeing to a substance abuse treatment program, his provisional suspension was lifted after having served a two-and-a-half-month suspension, which is already over. “Once the program is complete, the suspension will ultimately be reduced to one month,” said the ICC which is a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) since 2006. “Nawaz admitted the offense and demonstrated that the substance had been used out-of-competition and in a manner unrelated to sport performance,” the ICC said. Nawaz’s records from the match against the Netherlands on February 7 and in subsequent matches until 1 May 2026 have been disqualified. Nawaz has played six Tests, 44 one-day internationals and 98 T20 internationals for Pakistan but has not been selected for an ongoing training camp in the build-up to next year’s World Cup.
