KARACHI, 24 February 2007 — Pakistan cricket authorities said yesterday Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif will not travel to the Caribbean for the World Cup without a dope test, as they cleared 11 of the squad.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said yesterday that 11 of the 15-man squad and seven reserves had passed pre-World Cup dope tests.
But Akhtar and Asif have yet to feature, raising media speculation they might skip the event starting on March 13.
“We have received reports of the dope tests held last week and 18 players have cleared tests,” PCB director of communications Ahsan Malik told AFP.
He said results from captain Inzamam ul-Haq and all-rounder Shahid Afridi, who were tested on Sunday and Friday respectively, would be received later.
Akhtar was banned for two years and Asif for one year in November after they tested positive for the steroid nandrolone.
But the new-ball pair’s bans were controversially overturned by a PCB appellate committee in December, on the grounds that they did not take the banned substance knowingly. “Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Naseem Ashraf has a zero tolerance on the use of banned substances so any member of the team going for the World Cup has to pass the screening, the in-house dope testing,” PCB director of operations Salim Altaf told AFP.
“The chairman has directed that nobody can go on the tour if this screening is not done.” Experts have warned that Akhtar and Asif may still have banned substances in their systems after testing positive last year, and face life bans if they test positive again. But Altaf brushed aside the speculation.
“Everybody will feature otherwise nobody can go and that is the instruction of the chairman and we hope all speculations die down after this,” said Altaf, a former fast bowler.
He also rejected suggestions the PCB was risking life bans for the pair if they test positive a second time.
“If they failed tests which took place in September 2006 and this is now February 2007, the process is the same for everybody,” he said.
Akhtar said he still hoped to be fit for the World Cup despite battling to recover from knee and hamstring problems.
“I am going for another reassessment of my knee and hamstring injury in England later this week and only after that a.m. I able to know about my chances of playing in the World Cup,” Akhtar told AFP.
Asked when he was due to appear for testing, Akhtar refused to comment and said his first priority was to get over his injury.
“Right now I want my injury to heal and only after that a.m. I going to think about anything else,” said the 31-year-old, who joined Pakistan’s tune-up camp in Lahore yesterday but only took part in exercises.
“My chances of playing in the World Cup are 50-50 and I will take a final decision only after having a reassessment of the knee. The doctor has stopped me from bowling until Feb. 27,” he added. Asif also had an assessment in England last week, after a recurrence of an elbow injury, before returning home on Wednesday. “Both Akhtar and Asif are consulting the specialist over their injuries and once these problems are overcome they will feature in the tests,” said Altaf.
