Unclean bowled

Heads down, the two quietly checked out of their team hotel around noon today and sat in the Innova for what would be a long road journey back to Delhi

Heads down, the two quietly checked out of their team hotel around noon today and sat in the Innova for what would be a long road journey back to Delhi, and then the flight home. This certainly wasn8217;t the exit that Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif had planned. But that was how it turned out 8212; they were recalled from the tournament after both tested positive for nandrolone, an anabolic steroid, following tests conducted by the Pakistan Cricket Board PCB in the second half of September.

Both players now face a ban of upto two years and a hefty fine as per World Anti-Doping Agency WADA norms 8212; both the International Cricket Council ICC and PCB are signatories to WADA8217;s anti-doping code. This is the second major instance of doping in international cricket after Australia star Shane Warne was banned for a year just before the 2003 World Cup after a home test showed him positive for a diuretic.

8216;8216;We had carried out a routine test on 19 cricketers at the end of September. The tests were a result of a request put in by coach Bob Woolmer. He wanted to be sure as players from all teams would be tested at random during the Champions Trophy. The results came from Malaysia a couple of days back and Asif and Shoaib tested positive. Both players will face inquiry and punishment,8217;8217; PCB Director Operations Salim Altaf told The Indian Express.

Former Pakistan Cricket Board PCB chief Shahryar Khan was more direct. He told The Indian Express: 8220;If found guilty, Shoaib8217;s career is a good as over. These players should first be heard out if they have any explanations to give. But once that is over, they should be dealt with, very seriously, given the seriousness of the issue. Whether it is a two year ban or a one-year ban, it will be enough to finish his career.8221;

Akhtar, on his part, claimed he was 8220;innocent of doing anything I shouldn8217;t have8230; I have not knowingly taken any performance enhancing drugs and would never cheat.8221;

Akhtar, 31, has been Pakistan8217;s pace icon ever since that stunning show against India in Kolkata in 1999 when he clean bowled Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid with searing yorkers to make the cricket world sit up.

Since then, it has been a tumultuous career with the temperamental pacer often falling on the wrong side of his Board and captains with his outspoken comments and abrasive manner. A series of injuries to the ankle, the heel and the back haven8217;t helped the Rawalpindi Express either. In his 9-year career, he has taken 165 wickets in 42 Tests and 208 wickets in 133 one-dayers.

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What will hurt Pakistan more is any possible action against Asif. Just over a year old in international cricket, the 23-year-old has already had worldclass batsmen tied up in knots with uncanny accuracy and the ability to move the ball both ways.

Modelling himself on Australia8217;s Glenn McGrath, Asif was Pakistan8217;s spearhead during India8217;s visit early this year and against England till the Oval fiasco.

Tipped as Akhtar8217;s successor, the dope blow to Asif will leave Pakistan, once famed for its pace line-up, without a single pacer of note to lead the battle in the Champions Trophy and the World Cup next year.

With Pakistan, like India, not having a WADA-accredited lab, the tests were conducted by the Malaysian Association for Doping Control in Sports MADCS lab in Kuala Lumpur 8212; confirmatory results from the second sample have also tested positive. Both Akhtar and Asif have been struggling to recover from injuries, with the latter rushing back home from India for treatment last month after playing for a day for his Sialkot team in a cross-border four-day domestic tie against Uttar Pradesh.

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While the pre-emptive tests may have saved the players from an immediate two-year ban 8212; the punishment if they had been caught during the ICC8217;s tests here 8212; chances are both will miss the World Cup next April. 8220;Since there were tests conducted by us, we will have a proper inquiry and decide on the punishments as per prevalent anti-doping laws,8221; said Altaf.

8220;It8217;s a disappointing day for cricket. Other sports have faced up to the problem, but we need to get the full story,8221; said ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed.

The ICC, he said, has allowed Pakistan to field left-arm spinner Abdul Rehman and all-rounder Yasser Arafat as replacements.

Explaining why 19 tournament probables were tested in the second week of September on the insistence of coach Bob Woolmer, a top PCB official told this newspaper: 8220;We suspected that this might be the case doping and didn8217;t want any embarrassment if any of our players tested positive during the tournament.8221;

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According to sources, Akhtar rarely involved PCB-nominated doctors during his recovery from various injuries over the years, opting to stick to his personal physician Taufeeq Razzaq. 8220;We had a suspicion that Shoaib had been using the steroid to enable his rehabilitation from injury. However, the board had no idea that Asif would also be involved,8221; the sources said.

Meanwhile, Razzaq told reporters in Karachi that 8220;the positive test results probably stemmed from the medicines he had been taking to aid his recovery from injury. Akhtar is definitely innocent and I can vouch for him.8221;