Doping shame threatens India Premier League after player fails test

India's Twenty20 revolution is in danger of being hit by a drugs scandal after it emerged on Sunday night that an unnamed player from the Indian Premier League has returned a positive sample taken from random testing.

Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, insisted that there are several steps to go through before it can be proved beyond reasonable doubt that a banned substance has been taken.

But with so many of the world's leading players involved in the fledgling competition, the potential for negative publicity is significant and private investors are unlikely to take kindly to any illegal activity which could tarnish their image.

'This is the first step of the verification process and there are several stages before a player is deemed to have failed the test,' said Modi.

'The tests were carried out under the supervision of the World Anti-Doping Agency, after the IPL adopted the ICC's code on doping.'

Players have the opportunity to declare any prescribed drugs on a form that is filled out before matches, but if that has not been done in this case, the player in question will be informed, before a B sample is sent for testing.

If that is also found to be positive, the IPL's drugs tribunal will make a ruling, but the player would have right of appeal.

An IPL player has failed a drugs test