PCB to take Asif’s enquiry lightly

“Till we don’t get the report, we can’t start proceedings. We expect to do that around June 4,” he said. Sources in the Board, however, say that the authorities in Dubai did send a copy of their investigation report but it was in Arabic language.

“It is being translated and being rechecked before the committee starts its probe,” one source said. The feeling is already developing that the Board will try to ensure that Asif is not penalised too harshly for his indiscretion and the fact that it has appointed three of its own senior officials on the fact finding committee is an indication of this.

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has demanded that the Board must appoint an independent fact finding committee or question marks would remain on the Asif case.

Majid Khan, a former Test captain and chief executive of the Board, blamed the PCB for the rising incidents of indiscipline in the national team and even rued that the Board had set a wrong precedent by rescuing Asif from the detention.

Asif was detained on June 1 by airport authorities in Dubai for possessing a contraband substance while he was returning home from India after playing in the Indian Premier League.