PCB chief indicates Shoaib, Asif's dope test within a month

Karachi, Mar 28 (UNI) Amidst all recent contoroversies surrounding Pakistan cricket, outgoing PCB chief Nasim Ashraf has indicated that if he stays on as 'head' of the board, the pace duo of Shoaib Akhtar and Mahammad Asif will have to undergo dope tests within one month, following their suspicious withdrawl from the World Cup bound squad fearing positive tests.

''If I stay as the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), I assure you that these two fast bowlers would undergo doping tests within the next 30 days,'' Mr Ashraf told the Senate's Standing Committee on Sports and Culture yesterday.

Shoaib and Asif tested positive during in-house dope tests conducted by the PCB last year, and were banned for two years and one year respectively. An appellate committee later overturned the ban and the players were exonerated. However, the duo withdrew from the World Cup squad shortly before the team left for the Caribbean, citing injuries.

Senator Anwar Baig was quoted by the The news as saying that the sudden pullout of the pace duo raised suspicions as there were speculations that they feared testing positive during the event.

''That's what precisely we asked Ashraf because the PCB is saying that the fast bowlers missed the World Cup because of injuries and not because of fear of dope tests,'' he said.

UNI