The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Nasim Ashraf today strongly dismissed
suggestions that pacers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif were pulled
out of the World Cup after they failed a secret dope test in London.
The announcement came just hours after the International
Cricket Council issued a statement on the doping issue which said the Shoaib
and Asif dope fiasco in the Champions Trophy had been an embarrassment
for the sport and teams would be subjected to target tests in the mega event.
Sources told reporters that the ICC had taken the step of issuing
a statement on the doping issue as it was fed up with the PCB prolonging the
Shoaib and Asif issue.
"It forced the PCB to play its cards," one source
said.
But Ashraf insisted that the duo -- Shoaib suffering from knee
injury and Asif bothered by his elbow -- may take a long time to recover and
were therefore pulled out of the team.
"The truth is both of them are injured and they may take
even months to make a full recovery," Ashraf said after the two were ruled
out of the World Cup citing fitness problems.
"The Board's medical panel will soon check them out but the chances of
them recovering quickly from their injuries is very bleak," he added.
Akhtar and Asif have been replaced by Mohammad Sami and Yasir
Arafat.
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