Some Indian cricketers have taken performance-enhancing drugs, according to former national coach Anshuman Gaekwad.
``It has helped cricketers tremendously,‘’ he told weekly magazine Outlook, claiming steroids, stimulants and cortisone injections had been used.
Gaekwad played test cricket until the early 1980s and was India coach at the 1999 World Cup.
``Doses of steroids help in quick recoveries and help put on muscle as well,‘’ he was quoted as saying in the magazine.
An ICC report into matchfixing in May referred to allegations of drug use among cricketers.
It said there had been ``a number of allegations from different sources and locations in the world about the unlawful use of performance-enhancing drugs or its recreational use by players past and present.‘’
But the report said most allegations had been dismissed or could not be substantiated.