India, June 21 -- The menace of doping has hit Indian sport hard in recent times. The latest testing figures from the World Anti-Doping Agency for the year 2023 reveal a rather gloomy situation with India emerging at the top of the worldwide chart in the number of positive cases.

The National Anti-Doping Agency recorded 213 Adverse Analytical Findings (AAF) or positive cases from 5606 samples collected. The percentage of positive cases therefore stood at 3.8 - the highest among nations that tested more than 1000 samples for the year. From 5184 urine samples, 211 AAF were reported while 422 blood samples produced two positive cases.

For the record, the number of samples collected by NADA in 2023 is the highest ever. In 2022, NADA conduct...