Adil Najam
The decision on the doping case is finally in and Pakistan fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif have been hit by bans after testing positive for nadrolone. Shoaib is out for 2 years and Asif for one.
According to CricInfo:
Both men tested positive in the build-up to the Champions Trophy, and were pulled out of Pakistan’s squad on October 16, the day before their opening game. The ban could effectively end Shoaib’s career, because he will be 33 by the time the ban is lifted. The testing had been conducted internally by the PCB, and a three-man tribunal comprising barrister Shahid Hamid, the former captain Intikhab Alam and Waqar Ahmed, a medical expert, had conducted an inquiry.
Both men had been recovering from injuries in the weeks and months building up to their positive tests, with Shoaib suffering from knee and ankle problems and Asif fighting back from a shoulder problem that forced him to miss much of Pakistan’s tour of England last summer. Shoaib initially denied any misconduct, saying: “I have not knowingly taken any performance enhancing drugs and would never cheat my team-mates or opponents in this way.” But earlier this week, both men declined the offer of a retest on their B samples, which implied that they did not question the results. Both men are, however, entitled to appeal against their ban.
“We gave a full chance to both the pacemen to fight their cases and after a thorough inquiry we feel they failed to prove their innocence,” said Hamid, the chairman of the panel. “The process of doping was investigated carefully. We made sure the tests were conducted properly, samples reached the laboratory in Malaysia safely and there was no error in testing in the laboratory. “Both the players were satisfied and accepted the tests and gave their point of view but after a thorough inquiry and bound by the Wada (World Anti-Doping Agency) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) we reached the decision.”
Hamid explained why the two had received different sentences. Akhtar contested the case saying that he has been on a high-protein diet which contained beef, chicken meat and other dietary supplements alongside with good fitness plan and he also said he took some herbal medicines from a Hakim (herbal expert) but he couldn’t prove them. Under the ICC’s doping rules, a two-year ban is the minimum penalty for a first offence. However, the PCB said all along it will take its own decisions, since the tests were conducted internally. As a younger member of the squad, Asif, 24 next month, has been let off comparatively lightly, and can be expected to fight again for his place next year. For Shoaib, however, the final curtain could be falling on an eventful and controversial career. Both players do, however, have the right to appeal and, if they do, a separate tribunal will be conducted.
For Pakistan cricket as a whole, the verdict marks the end of an unpalatable three-month period, which began with the ball-tampering controversy at The Oval, which led to the first forfeiture in Test history and a four-ODI suspension for their captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq. Younis Khan, Inzamam’s stand-in, then resigned on the eve of the Champions Trophy, claiming he did not wish to be a “dummy” captain, only to be reinstated following the resignation of the PCB’s exasperated chairman, Shahrayar Khan.
Also, the second point by Zamanov – excellent point – about PCB responsiibility in all of this needs a lot of attention. What signals were they getting from the PCB.
I take it this means that Shoaib’s career is over. What a nasty was to go.
I think we will still hear morre on Asif and some sort of plea will come to reinstate him by possibly his saying he did not know what this was about… which may be true.
But like everything else, this is not over just yet!
Bilal, I should add that teh ‘good old days’ were not that good either. Imran and Sarfraz had their own scandals of a ddiffern type. Also remember all the betting scandals. Sad.
It is utterly shameful that Shoaib’s career had to end like this and Pakistani fast bowlers/cricket will forever be tainted due to this doping scandal. Whether their bans are appealed and lessened is up to the PCB but some of the issues that need to be pondered for the future include:
— The unprofessional behavior of Shoaib and to a lesser extent Asif for taking supplements and hakimi potions without consulting their team trainers and other sports medicine experts. Ignorance is no excuse at the international level. These guys are highly paid sportsmen who MUST follow the rules on what they put inside their bodies and their training regimen.
— The tribunal noted that the PCB has done a poor job of educating its mostly uneducated players about the dangers of doping and other nutritional advice. This is unacceptable for the country’s richest sports organization. PCB should immediately set up a sports medicine institute and regularly monitor, test, train and advise its players about drugs and nutritional supplements. This should NEVER happen in Pakistan cricket again.
— One of the supplements taken by Shoaib, per his testimony, was some Hakimi potion called ‘kushta’ and other multi-vitamin supplements that are not regulated by any Pakistani medical/governmental agency. Even though this is a monumental task in a country where current medicine practice is widely tainted by fake drugs and poorly trained or fake doctors, it behooves the government to investigate any incident of illegal drug mixing that may be posing health risks to the population. If for nothing else, but the much-aligned image of the country!
In the end, this black day for Pakistani cricket should be a lesson to all Pakistanis that ignorance is not an excuse for lack of professionalism. The world is not running by Pakistani standards, we have to exhibit the best of our abilities fairly, honestly and professionally to compete in the 21st century.
What a disgrace! I am disappointed at these two.
I miss the days of Imran/Sarfraz, Imran/Wasim, Wasim/Waqar pairs.
Appropiate pic for the fast and furious. http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucky_khan/275152773/