India’s anti-doping framework has expanded once more, with two T20 World Cup-winning cricketers included in the latest 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 in the revised roster.
The updated RTP list now features 348 athletes from various sports, with 14 cricketers included. This development is noteworthy not due to any allegations, but because of the implications of being part of the RTP. Athletes in this pool are subject to stricter anti-doping regulations.
They are required to regularly provide detailed whereabouts information, covering their training, residence, and competition schedules, and must be available for testing during a designated one-hour slot each day. As per the World Anti-Doping Agency guidelines, three missed tests or filing failures within a 12-month period can be treated as a violation of anti-doping rules.
What Abhishek Sharma And Axar Patel’s Inclusion Signifies
For Indian cricket, the latest update highlights how quickly a player’s standing can change within 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 associated with RTP membership.
They replace Smriti Mandhana and Shreyas Iyer, who were part of the previous cycle. In the first quarter of 2026, the RTP list included 347 athletes, with Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues among the key cricket names. The overall cricket representation, however, remains mostly stable.
The revised list still includes prominent men’s players such as Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Arshdeep Singh and Tilak Varma. On the women’s side, Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma and Renuka Singh Thakur continue to feature. In total, 14 cricketers are part of the current RTP.
This update is part of a broader anti-doping landscape. Athletics continues to have the largest presence in the RTP, increasing from 118 athletes in the first quarter to 134 in the latest list. This indicates where the primary focus of testing lies, even though cricket often draws the most attention due to 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 compared to previous cycles. Therefore, the inclusion of Abhishek Sharma and Axar Patel is not linked to any disciplinary issue but is an important administrative development.
It brings both 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 in the country’s highest-priority testing group.
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