Rahul Sharma and Wayne Parnell test positive in rave party

Sad – indeed sad story of a promising cricketer fighting all adversity to reach a higher level but falling due to lack of character.  He had claimed to be innocent and even threatened to quit the game, if proven.

It is the story of tall Rahul Sharma, who came to limelight after stellar performance in the previous IPL.  Rahul had earlier signed up with Deccan Chargers for IPL 2010 and was looking forward to making his debut under a man he credits for playing a major role in his rise - Adam Gilchrist. Six days before the tournament began though, Rahul developed severe pain on the right side of his face, his vision became hazy and his doctor declared that he could not play as he had Bell's Palsy.  That left him devastated but he fought back admirably with raw courage.   The illness affected his fielding too.

Rahul reportedly started as a medium pacer but soon turned to leg spin on his coach Devender Arora's insistence (Devender Arora is alsoHarbhajan Singh's coach).  First played for Punjab in Dec 2006 but had to wait till 2009 to play again.  He hails from a middle class family. The year 2011, was lucky one for Rahul Sharma as he was noticed with some good performances for Pune Warriors. His figures of 4-0-7-2 against Mumbai Indians were the most economical of 2011 Indian Premier League.  But IPL 5 was no good as he struggled and towards the end, was caught in a raid on a rave party in Mumbai. He was later cleared of the charges since, and selected for the Lanka-bound Indian ODI team.  In a pressnews he had stated that that incident affected not just him but also his family. 

Today, Headlines Today @ 9 pm broke the news that IPL cricketers Rahul Sharma and Wayne Parnell have tested positive for drugs at a rave party held in Mumbai's suburban Juhu on May 20. They are among the 100-odd people who were detained by the Mumbai Police.   Both of them had claimed to be innocent and that they were "at the wrong place at the wrong time" after the duo were detained during a raid on a rave party in suburban Juhu.  Parnell admitted that both the players were present at the party in the Oakwood Premier Hotel, they said they were unaware of any drugs being supplied there.

Rahul Sharma in a fit of rage had stated that  "I am sure my results won't be positive.If tests are positive, I'll quit cricket."  No official word from BCCI as yet.  Earlier IPL had refused to comment waiting for the results to be out.  The newsreports suggest that apart  from the cricketers, TV actor Apurva Agnihotri, fashion designer Rocky S and former cricketer Bishan Singh Bedi's son have also tested positive.

Out of the 44, who tested positive, 27 had consumed cannabis, one had MDMA (better known as 'Ecstasy', a drug usually taken in a pill form), while 16 had consumed MDMA as well as cannabis.  The two people who tested negative for the drugs were identified as Amrit Sagar, grandson of Ramanand Sagar, director of television serial 'Ramayan' and Rahul Sughand.  During the raid, the police had also seized 110 grams of cocaine

Sad news for the promising lad and for Indian Cricket.

Bell's palsy is a form of facial paralysis resulting from a dysfunction of the cranial nerve VII (the facial nerve) that results in the inability to control facial muscles on the affected side.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.