The former New Zealand cricket captain Brendon McCullum has revealed he was investigated for doping, after returning a failed urine sample while playing in the Indian Premier League two years ago.
Stuff reports McCullum, who suffers from asthma, exceeded the maximum dose of salbutamol allowed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
McCullum used an inhaler to deal with poor air quality in New Delhi while playing for the Gujarat Lions franchise in April 2016, just a couple of months after playing his final test for New Zealand.
However it wasn't until six months later that he was informed by Indian cricket authorities of the failed test.
After several months collecting medical data, testimony from medical staff and information on what triggered the asthma attack McCullum was retroactively granted a Therapeutic Use Exemption which avoided any ban.
The British cyclist Chris Froome is currently fighting a similar case after returning higher than allowed levels of Salbutamol during the Vuelta a Espana.
McCullum told Stuff he had no ill feelings about the incident.
"I've heard this sort of rumbling around in the background for a while and I actually said to my wife, 'I don't know why we don't just deal with this now, I've got nothing to hide and it is better off just talking about stuff rather than having other people talking about it'. Otherwise, it just grows and festers," McCullum said.
"As far as I am concerned it was just a matter of making sure we got everything signed off properly, rather than it being a failed drug test."
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