In May 2012, the Mumbai Police raided a party at the Oakwood Premier Hotel and arrested ninety people for using recreational drugs. Among them were Wayne Parnell and Rahul Sharma of Pune Warriors, both of whom were detained. Both men tested positive, as the charge-sheet submitted by Mumbai Police in March 2013 would reveal. IPL Controversies- Part 12: Double Trouble for KKR Co-Owner Shahrukh Khan in 2012.

‘We were at the wrong place in the wrong time,’ Parnell told the media. While he confessed to being present at the scene to attend a birthday party, he added that neither he nor Rahul was using drugs. Rahul concurred, adding that both he and Parnell were teetotallers, and vowed to quit cricket if he was found guilty. They had no clue about it being a rave party.

Pune captain Sourav Ganguly was sympathetic towards Rahul: ‘I don’t think it was a performance-enhancing drug for which he should be punished … He should be punished for little bit of time but I don’t think it’s such a grave issue that he should be banned from playing for India. The BCCI needs to counsel him.’ IPL Controversies- Part 11: Kochi Tuskers Kerala Terminated in 2011.

N Srinivasan, then the President of the BCCI, told PTI: ‘I don’t know why everyone is in a mood to execute Rahul Sharma without even going into the details. The BCCI will first procure each and every bit of relevant information and then study them before deciding on the course of action.’

Cricket South Africa did not take a hasty decision, either: ‘We have not heard anything from officials in India and we cannot comment until then,’ Mohammed Moosajee, South Africa team manager, told ESPNCricinfo.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 10, 2021 09:50 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).