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Wednesday, Oct 18, 2006
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Dope issue: Pakistan media fuming

Call for PCB to take up the cudgels against the erring bowlers

Islamabad: A fuming media in cricket-mad Pakistan on Tuesday lashed out at the dope-tainted duo of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif for bringing shame to the country and asked the Pakistan Cricket Board to take up the cudgels against the erring bowlers.

The pace bowlers were pulled out from from Champions Trophy in India on Monday after it was revealed that they had tested positive for a banned drug in tests conducted by the PCB last month.

``To say fans are disappointed would be a gross under-statement. Shame is a description that befits what Messers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif have wrought on this cricket-mad nation by their ill-conceived actions,'' leading local daily The News wrote under the headline `Time to go back to school'.

``When you are representing your country in any vocation, life is more than just hurling 90mph thunderbolts in the case of Shoaib or bringing dead-pan accuracy with disturbing swing a la Asif,'' the daily said pouring scorn on the bowlers.

``Seriously, Pakistan cricket is suffering for the lack of proper education and grooming... it is time Pakistan Cricket Board took up the cudgels,'' it said.

`Impose penalties'

Former captain and Pakistan Cricket Board CEO Rameez Raja also urged the PCB to impose stern penalties on Shoaib and Asif in his column for The Nation.

``When I was the PCB's chief executive officer, we were given a list by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) of the banned substances. Subsequently, we had a couple of meetings with the players and with the doctors to explicitly tell them about the repercussions of using such substances.''

``The other big question is that whether under the PCB Code of Conduct, are there any penalties for failing a dope test? If there are, they need to be implemented now,'' he wrote.

Raja said he would have believed if only Shoaib had been guilty but the involvement of Asif made him think twice.

``If it only had been Shoaib Akhtar, I would have straightaway given the guilty verdict for he has on many an occasion kept his self-interest and fitness regimen ahead of the team's interest.

``But since a youngster Mohammad Asif is also involved in this controversy, I can only speculate that probably both the fast bowlers were inadvertently administered the drugs to get their fitness back.

``The new set up at the Pakistan Cricket Board seems to be keen on cutting out the player power and implementing the spirit of the game. On this issue, their resolve would certainly be tested.''

Another leading cricket journalist Khalid Hussain said in a report in The News that the latest scandal had hit an already struggling Pakistan Cricket hard. — PTI

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