Pakistan players to undergo dope tests

The Pakistan Cricket Board has announced in-house doping tests for all its players before the Asia Cup, which begins from June 24. The tests will be conducted shortly after the team returns from a short tri-series in Bangladesh in the beginning of June.

"The tests will be conducted on all the players selected for the Asia Cup camp before the tournament starts, so that we can get the results in time from the World Anti-Doping Agency laboratory (WADA) in Malaysia," Shafqat Naghmi, chief operating officer of the PCB, said.

The board has taken a strict doping policy after fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif tested positive for the banned substance Nandrolone before the Champions Trophy in India in 2006. Those tests were also conducted internally by the PCB. Both were banned by the PCB but were later acquitted following an appeal on essentially a technicality.

WADA filed an appeal in an international court challenging the decision to overturn the bans but failed to do so because they had no jurisdiction over the matter. Since then, the PCB's anti-doping policy has become WADA-compliant.