India’s anti-doping framework has expanded over again, with two T20 World Cup-winning cricketers included in the newest update. Abhishek Sharma and Axar Patel have been inducted into the National Anti-Doping Agency’s Registered Testing Pool (RTP) for the second quarter of 2026, taking the places of Smriti Mandhana and Shreyas Iyer within the revised roster.
The updated RTP list now features 348 athletes from various sports, with 14 cricketers included. This development is noteworthy not as a consequence of any allegations, but due to implications of being a part of the RTP. Athletes on this pool are subject to stricter anti-doping regulations.
They’re required to frequently provide detailed whereabouts information, covering their training, residence, and competition schedules, and should be available for testing during a delegated one-hour slot every day. As per the World Anti-Doping Agency guidelines, three missed tests or filing failures inside a 12-month period will be treated as a violation of anti-doping rules.
What Abhishek Sharma And Axar Patel’s Inclusion Signifies
For Indian cricket, the newest update highlights how quickly a player’s standing can change inside the national anti-doping monitoring system. Abhishek Sharma and Axar Patel have now moved into the group of top cricketers who fall under stricter testing and reporting rules related to RTP membership.
They replace Smriti Mandhana and Shreyas Iyer, who were a part of the previous cycle. In the primary quarter of 2026, the RTP list included 347 athletes, with Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues amongst the important thing cricket names. The general cricket representation, nevertheless, stays mostly stable.
The revised list still includes outstanding men’s players similar to Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Arshdeep Singh and Tilak Varma. On the ladies’s side, Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma and Renuka Singh Thakur proceed to feature. In total, 14 cricketers are part of the present RTP.
This update is a component of a broader anti-doping landscape. Athletics continues to have the most important presence within the RTP, increasing from 118 athletes in the primary quarter to 134 in the newest list. This means where the first focus of testing lies, despite the fact that cricket often draws essentially the most attention as a consequence of its high-profile names.
Earlier reports had already pointed to an expanded anti-doping drive ahead of major events in 2026, with NADA significantly increasing the pool size in comparison with previous cycles. Due to this fact, the inclusion of Abhishek Sharma and Axar Patel will not be linked to any disciplinary issue but is a very important administrative development.
It brings each players under a more stringent, year-round anti-doping framework and reflects NADA’s continued effort to closely monitor India’s leading athletes. In practical terms, it means stricter compliance, tighter availability requirements, and inclusion within the country’s highest-priority testing group.
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