(Adds PCB chief quotes)
By Waheed Khan
KARACHI, March 1 - Pakistan pace bowlers Shoaib
Akhtar and Mohammad Asif have been ruled out of the World Cup
due to injury, a senior cricket board official said on Thursday.
The double withdrawal comes just five months after the pair
tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone and were
banned by their national board before an appeal panel cleared
them to play again.
Shoaib, who has played only one test and four one-dayers
since February 2006 due to fitness concerns, has not recovered
from the knee injury that forced him to be sent back from South
Africa last month.
Asif has been carrying a niggling elbow problem since that
tour and the pair were receiving treatment in London.
"The doctors have said they require at least another three
weeks to make a complete recovery from their injuries. We
couldn't wait for that long," Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief
selector Wasim Bari told reporters.
"Yasir Arafat and Mohammad Sami will be sent as their
replacements."
The loss of the new-ball pair, coupled with all-rounder
Abdul Razzaq's withdrawal, is a setback to Pakistan's hopes
before their opening match against hosts West Indies on the
first day of the tournament on March 13.
"Certainly it is not an ideal situation for us. Losing three
experienced players is a big disappointment," said captain
Inzamam-ul-Haq.
"But we just have to manage with the players we have and
they are capable of doing well."
STRONG STATEMENT
After testing positive for nandrolone last October,
31-year-old Shoaib was banned for two years and Asif for one
year by a drugs inquiry tribunal. An appellate panel of the
board later exonerated them of doping charges and lifted the
suspensions.
The incident led to the Pakistan board holding in-house dope
tests for the players and reserves in the World Cup squad.
All the players appeared and passed the tests except Shoaib
and Asif, who were being treated for their injuries in Britain.
Sources within the board said the decision to drop the
players on the eve of the team's departure might have come as a
result of an unusually strong statement about doping issued by
the International Cricket Council on Thursday.
But PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf insisted the bowlers were out
because of injuries.
"We had to withdraw them because of the injuries. They might
take weeks even months to recover completely," he told a news
conference in Islamabad.
ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said in his statement that
Shoaib and Asif could face doping tests as soon as they arrived
in the Caribbean for the World Cup.
He also described their continuing to play international
cricket as an embarrassment for the sport.
"The ICC had made its position very clear and the board
could no longer take a risk of them facing drug problems again
in the World Cup," one source said.
Medical experts say traces of nandrolone remain the body for
up to six months.