||Desk Report||

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has extended Ahmed Shehzad’s four-month doping ban by six weeks as the batsman played for a PCB-accredited club, Muslim Gymkhana, breaching his suspension. The ban that was supposed to end on November 10, has now been extended till December 22.

The batsman was served a show-cause notice on October 19. He apologized in his response to the notice and said he was unware of the rule and did not breach it intentionally .

“First let me unreservedly tender my apology for my error of judgment. Although ignorance of rules is no excuse, I would nevertheless like you to know that I was unaware of the PCB rules,” Shehzad was quoted as saying in a statement from the board.

Shehzad received a four-month ban from PCB in July for failing a dope test. The test was conducted during Pakistan Cup, the country’s domestic List A tournament, in May.

The result was confirmed in June, after the batsman played two T20Is against Scotland. Shehzad was provisionally suspended and charged with the violation of anti-doping regulations following the confirmation of the test result.

The offence had dire consequences as Shehzad was excluded from Pakistan's ICC World Cup 2019 training plan and lost his central contract. He was also sacked as captain of Habib Bank Limited team and his contract was terminated ahead of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.

The 26-year-old was recently signed by domestic departmental team Sui Southern Gas Company and was expected to feature in the quarter-finals of the same tournament. However, he will now miss the entire tournament due to the extension of his ban.