PCB tests Shoaib and Asif ahead of Twenty20 cup

KARACHI, July 31 (Reuters) The Pakistan Cricket Board has carried out doping tests on controversial fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif in the run-up to September's inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa.

''All the players who are in the training camp for the event have been tested with the exception of Younis Khan, Yasir Arafat and Danish Kaneria, who are playing in England,'' team manager Talat Ali told reporters today.

Shoaib and Asif caused widespread embarrassment to Pakistani cricket last October when they tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone in out-of-competition tests conducted by the PCB before the Champions Trophy in India.

Both were initially banned by a PCB drugs inquiry panel but then cleared by an appeals committee.

The board accepted their exoneration on the grounds that they were tried under its own anti-doping regulations, which at that time were not World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) compliant.

The final squad for the Twenty20 World Cup is expected to be announced after the results are received.

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