Doping bans a 'disaster' for Pakistan cricket, ex-players say
Friday, November 03, 2006
Source: AP
Image Source: AFP
Islamabad: The doping bans handed down to top fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammed Asif are a disaster for Pakistan cricket, already reeling from controversies that have hurt its chances in next year's World Cup, ex-players Sarfraz Nawaz said on November 2.
A Pakistan Cricket Board tribunal on November 1, handed a two-year ban to paceman Akhtar, the first player in cricket to bowl over 100 mph (160 kph) and a one-year ban to rising star Asif, after they both tested positive for the banned steroid Nandrolone.
The punishments, the harshest yet for doping in world cricket could threaten the international prospects of the 31-year old Akhtar, who in an eventful career has also battled injury problems and faced questions over the legitimacy of his whirlwind bowling action.
Akhtar's physician Tauseef Razzaq told Pakistan's private Geo television that Akhtar would file an appeal against the ban and insisted he had tested positive because of having a high protein diet and using herbal medicines, which are not banned.
The tribunal, however, reported that Akhtar had failed to specify the vitamin supplements he had been taking, and when asked who had prescribed the herbal medicines he had been taking, said ''he had been getting them from his friends.''
The verdicts cap a torrid few months for the Pakistan team, which was forced to forfeit a test match against England at The Oval this summer when the side refused to take the field after it was accused of ball tampering charges it was later cleared of.
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