Shoaib, Asif banned

[Tigers_eye]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/6061394.stm

Pakistan pair hit by doping bans

Pakistan fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif have been banned from the game for failing a drugs test.

Shoaib will serve a two-year suspension and Asif will be out of cricket for 12 months after they tested positive for nandrolone, a banned steroid.
The punishments were handed out by a three-man tribunal appointed by the Pakistan Cricket Board. The inquiry was launched after the pair were sent home from the ICC Champions Trophy in India.


I am sure their hopes for the WC is next to zero now.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/updates.asp#12209

Lahore: Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar was banned for two years and fellow pace bowler Mohammad Asif for one year after they tested positive for a banned steroid, an official said Wednesday.

A three-member doping tribunal appointed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) handed down the verdicts on the pair after hours of deliberations in the eastern city of Lahore.

Akhtar and Asif were sent home from the Champions Trophy in India on October 16 after the PCB said the performance-enhancing drug nandrolone had appeared in their samples.

[Miraz]

Why Asif gets just one year ban? He should have been banned for two years like Shoaib.

This ban is virtually the end of Shoaib's career.

[Spitfire_x86]

Maybe because he's young and not a marked "bad boy" like Shoaib.

[Tigers_eye]

This is from the BBC report:

Hamid said the panel showed a degree of leniency to Asif because he had little knowledge about performance-enhancing drugs. "Asif stopped using them when his physiotherapist asked him to do so," he added.
(Tribunal chairman Shahid Hamid)

[CricFanBD]

I feel great to hear that….proper justice is done to Shoaib…but not to Asif…he should be banned for 2 years at least.

[PoorFan]

Big blow for Pak team, by the way are we playing against them in 2007 WC? ... on a second thought, ... forget it.

[Kabir]

At least someone should print 25 copies of this bbc article and present it to all 25 players in our practice field at the moment. That might help? Just a thought.:umm:

[RazabQ]

I am saddened. Shoib and Asif, in their pomp, are great bowlers to watch and they kept all this happy sloggers prevalent these days in check.

As for the whole steroid thing - I sure as hope heck no BD player does it. I would be beyond myself if, even after steroid pumping, all we can produce are liliputian batsmen and "fast" bowlers who can barely crack the mid 80s. :)

[Tigers_eye]

Big blow for Pak team, by the way are we playing against them in 2007 WC? ... on a second thought, ... forget it.
No we are not playing against them. SL, Ind and Bermuda are our opponents.

[Rabz]

Great news for cricket world...
the cheats deserves to be punished...
ha ha ha...
the pakis r cheats...whats so surprising about tht??

[Sovik]

shoaib's carrer is over. he is 31 now. and he won't be able to come back after 2 years

[Stumped]

No we are not playing against them. SL, Ind and Bermuda are our opponents.


That sucks... why have all the sub-continent teams together(sl, ind and banga)?? Surely they should spread it out a bit more? How do they pick the team groups anyways...

[Hatebreed]

There goes Pak's WC... I bet the English and Aussies very happy, especially Brett lee.

Anyway, considering the tests and investigation were carried internally, there is no need to poke fun at their whole team or cricket culture in regard to their recent or past controversies. The result is PCB has set an example that drugs are not tolerated in cricket, or any sport for that matter, and I hope other countries including our own will take it as a caution.

[shaoun]

i dont think pakistan will miss shoiab too much. he only plays half the year anyway because of injury. i believe pakistan team is better without shoiab. he has been a problem for a long time. asif will be back. he is a great bowler and i am sure he will return to pakistan team after his suspension is over. alot of great fast bowlers came from pakistan and i am sure they will produce more. so shoaib wont be missed for long.