Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag was captured vaping inside the dressing room during the live broadcast of their match against Punjab Kings on Tuesday and the visuals of the act are going viral on social media timelines. It happened during the 16th over of the RR run-chase when Parag was casually vaping in the presence of his teammates Dhruv Jurel and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Smoking is completely prohibited in the dressing room and stadium premises, except in designated areas. Therefore, it was shocking that Parag was allegedly holding an e-cigarette/vape — which India banned under The Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act (PECA) 2019. The Act prohibited the production, sale, purchase, import, export and advertisement of e-cigarettes/vapes in India and violations can lead to imprisonment and hefty fines. TimesofIndia.com reached out to BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia for a comment and the story will be updated the moment he responds. The act raises serious concerns because vaping is neither legal nor regulated in the country and may require further investigation.“Unlike smoking a cigarette, you don’t know what you are inhaling when it comes to vaping. There is a reason why it is banned in the country and one has no clue about the ingredients which go inside it and whether it meets the safety guidelines. Especially for an elite athlete. The franchise and the captain will need to keep their reasons ready because the BCCI is unlikely to come down soft on an incident like this,” says an industry source tracking developments.This is not the first time RR have found themselves in the middle of a controversy this season; earlier, their manager violated PMOA protocol by casually using his phone in the dugout. That was also captured during the broadcast and after a thorough examination, the BCCI warned and fined Romi Bhinder.
