Young Indian opener, Prithvi Shaw who was handed an eight-month ban for doping violation last year, said that the time he spent without cricket was a “torture” and that it “should not happen to anyone”.

Notably, the 20-year-old was handed a back-dated suspension of eight months on July 30 last year by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) inadvertently ingesting a prohibited substance, which can be commonly found in cough syrups.

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“You have to be careful about what you consume. Even a simple drug like paracetamol. This is for all the young cricketers out there who aren’t aware about these things,” Shaw said while speaking to Times of India as quoted by IANS.

“Even if you take a small medicine, you must get it approved with your doctor or the BCCI doctors. It’s better to ask the doctors about the banned substances and take necessary precautions so that you don’t get into trouble,” he added.

Meanwhile, ever since his comeback into professional cricket, Shaw has gradually risen through the ranks. In five T20I innings in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, his first competition for Mumbai after comeback, the youngster scored a total of 240 runs with five half-centuries.

The 20-year-old had then forced himself into the minds of selectors with his maiden first-class double ton in the Ranji Trophy. The 174-ball double hundred earned him a spot in the India A’s tour of New Zealand.

The former Under-19 World Cup-winning skipper hit a fascinating hundred en route to his 100-ball 150 in one of the practice games for India A. His blitzkrieg performance drafted him into the national squad for the New Zealand tour.

Shaw, meanwhile, said he has learnt the lesson and will never repeat the same mistake. “Like in my case, I had a cough syrup which I didn’t know was a banned substance. I have learnt a lesson from this and will not repeat it,” he said.

“Even if I am having a basic medicine, I run that through the BCCI doctors to ensure that there are no banned substances in it. Time away from cricket was a difficult period for me. It was a torture. It should not happen to anyone,” he added.