Shoaib, Asif fail dope test, recalled: Cricketnext

New Delhi: The beleagured Pakistan team got another jolt on Monday as fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif tested positive for drugs.

Consequently, Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to recall them from the Champions Trophy being played in India. Pakistan have named fast bowlers left-arm spinner Abdul Rehman and Yasir Arafat as replacements for duo.

Shoaib and Asif tested positive for banned anabolic steroid nandrolone, Pakistan team manager Talat Ali said.

The Pakistan team skipped their scheduled morning training session in Jaipur following the news. Talat said the samples were sent to a WADA accredited laboratory in Malaysia and reports of both the players came out positive.

Nandrolone is a steroid which is included in World Anti-doping Agency's list of banned drugs.

The Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed the tests and the duo will be heading back home. There were reports that another fast bowler, Rana Naved-ul Hasan, had also tested positive but there was no immediate confirmation from the team management.

Pakistan are in Jaipur for their match against Sri Lanka on Tuesday.

The PCB took the decision to withdraw the duo from the tournament as it did not want to invite further embarassment during the International Cricket Council's dope tests, introduced for all the 10 teams in the Champions Trophy for the first time in its history.

"We haven't discussed the issue neither with the PCB, nor with the rest of the team. I'm confident the team will take any kind of adversity in their stride and rise to the occasion," Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer said at a press conference called right after the news broke on Monday.

Woolmer also said it will be up to the PCB to make a statement on the issue.

Younis Khan, captain of the Pakistan team for the tournament, put up a brave front. "Whatever happened, has happened, and we have to face it and play our best. We came into this tournament to play good cricket. There will be no change of plan, it will remain to perform well," he said at the press conference.

"The kind of wickets and conditions in India will only encourage us. We still have two good bowlers. I always support my players and I'll continue to back them even if they are in form or out," Younis added.

The Pakistan cricket team is smarting from two recent controversies. The first was the ball-tampering row that erupted in August during Pakistan's tour of England.

The incident led to the first ever forfeit in Test cricket history and skipper Inzamam-ul Haq was tried and banned for four One-Day International games.

The second controversy occured just before the start of the ICC Champions Trophy in India, when Younis Khan refused to stand in as the skipper for banned Inzamam-ul-Haq.

This led to the resignation of PCB chief Shaharyar Khan. Younis was reinstated as the captain by the new chairman of the board, Naseem Ashraf.

The news means Pakistan's chances in the Champions Trophy will be severely dented, as coach Bob Woolmer will have to resort to secondary plans, as both comprise one of the fierce bowling attacks leading into the tournament.

"I have been in the team long enough. I don't expect anything to happen with us. It is up to the PCB to decide. However, on the match tomorrow, the biggest threat remains the performance of the Sri Lankan players," Woolmer said.

The tests were internally conducted by the Pakistan Cricket Board, and it is understood that every cricket board across the world has different policies on conducting these tests.

Every team has been testing two players at random.

Sami-ul Hasan, the communications officer of the ICC, said, "We have no information so far of the incident. And until we get any information by the PCB, we cannot make a statement."

"Every board has seperate doping policies, so it is their decision, and it has nothing to do with the ICC. The PCB had conducted these tests."

"We have a no tolerance policy towards doping," Hasan said.

This is the first major dope scandal to hit international cricket since Australian leg spinner Shane Warne tested postitive for a diuretic just before the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.

ICC had permitted a replacement to Australia then, who went on to lift the Cup for a record third time.

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