After South Africa's Kagiso Rabada, bowler becomes 3rd player in 12 months Banned for Cocaine Use

South Africa's Kagiso Rabada had to leave Gujarat Titans in the middle of IPL 2025, as he was found guilty of using prohibited substance, a crime against the anti-doping rules of ICC.

He was sent to South Africa in the middle of the tournament after his ban, and returned back to the competition only after undergoing the guideline treatment.

After South Africa s Kagiso Rabada star International bowler becomes 3rd player in 12 months Banned

New Zealand pacer Doug Bracewell was also found guilty of using a recreational drug, which led to his ban as well. And now, the third bowler, in less than 12 months, have been charged with substances which come under the banned section for professional cricketers.

Benzoylecgonine, an organic compound related to Cocaine, has been found in the blood sample of Netherlands pacer Vivian Kingma. The bowler's sample came back positive to the substance on May 12 after their World Cup League 2 match against UAE.

"The 30-year-old tested positive for Benzoylecgonine, a cocaine metabolite classified as a Substance of Abuse under the ICC Anti-Doping Code," ICC released a statement on Kingma.

"He has been handed a three-month period of ineligibility, effective from 15 August 2025. This may be reduced to one month if Kingma is able to demonstrate that he has satisfactorily completed an approved treatment programme," the statement added.

Previously, both Rabada and Bracewell saw their ban reduced to a month after completing the treatment programme. Kingma has played 30 ODIs and 26 T20Is for the Dutch and has 64 international wickets across all formats.

Kingma played two matches after the UAE encounter, and as per ICC rules, his records from those matches will be wiped off. The Dutch bowler is expected to play a key part in their upcoming assignments, and for that, his swift return following a treatment programme will be paramount.