Its Asif !!!

I'm sure many would have guessed it when the news 1st broke that a pacer from the subcontinent had been tested positive during the random drugs tests that were conducted by WADA during the Indian Premier League.

It has been confirmed now.

2nd offence, life ban.

Or is it the 3rd?

It doesn't matter anymore.

He was caught with opium in his wallet at the Dubai airport on his way back from India after taking part in the IPL.

Opium is a drug that is on the list of prohibitive items of WADA.

We still don't know whether it was opium that he was tested positive for.

Whatever it was, it doesn't matter anymore.

The career of Pakistan's most promising fast bowler since Wasim & Waqar is over even before it took off.

I'm too disappointed to say anything more.

As a result the 30 probables that were to be announced today will also not be announced till tomorrow.

There's no saving Asif from this.

No way!

Making a Full Circle...

Shoaib Akhtar, who did not get banned for late nights before a match morning, who did not get banned for testing positive for a banned drug, who did not get banned for hitting his team mate with a bat, but got banned for publicly critcizing the PCB, and is now waiting for a ruling from the Lahore High Court on his appeal to overturn the ban, has been...

Included in Pakistan's 30 probables for the Champions Trophy to be held in September.

Mohammad Asif, who did not get banned for testing positive for a banned drug, who remained sidelined due to elbow problems for over 6 months, who played the IPL with less than 100% fitness with his elbow in a brace, who got arrested and then let off after being caught red handed with opium in his wallet at the Dubai airport, who is all set to appear before a PCB 3-man committee for the dubai-drug act, has been...

Included in Pakistan's 30 probables for the Champions Trophy to be held in September.

Good News?

Great News!!!

Pakistan will actually have a REAL bowling attack for once.

Well ofcourse given that these 2 don't break down, hit each other, get caught with drugs in their bladders, or get caught conspiring to bomb the PCB between now and September.

It was the last Champions Trophy, 2 years ago, when Shoaib & Asif flew back to Pakistan because PCB's internal doping test results had shown traces of nandronolone in both the pacers samples.

Since then, both Shoaib & Asif have gone through a very rough period, and neither has featured regularly for Pakistan.

Doubts on their participation in this year's Champions Trophy still remain though.

Shoaib's 18-month ban has been suspended by the Lahore High Court, pending a ruling on his appeal.

While Asif is going to face PCB's 3-man committee who will question his drug smuggling act in Dubai.

However, given that the Chief Selector, Sallu Sahab, has announced that Shoaib and Asif will be included in the 30 probables to be announced tomorrow, I have reason to believe that the courts, committees, PCB, and all authorities concerned are yet again going to let the 2 pacers off scot-free one last time.

Champions Trophy '06 to Champions Trophy '08 - quite a full circle that is, not with smooth edges though. Its been a bumpy ride for them both!

Where Now for Mohammad Asif?

My weekend trip to Karachi coincided with 3 incidents involving the Pakistan cricket team.

While I was on my way to the airport on Thursday, I got a call from a friend telling me that charges against Mohammad Asif had been dropped and he would be flying back to Pakistan soon.

While at the airport, I got an sms saying that Kamran Akmal had been dropped from Pakistan's list of probables for the Asia Cup.

When I landed in Karachi, I found out that Pakistan's 20 probables for the Asia Cup had also landed there earlier for a 3-day training camp.

All items are news worthy, but I'll start with the intrigue surrounding Mohammad Asif.

Since the release contradictory statements have been flying around from the different parties that were involved with the case.

Gulf News, UAE's leading daily newspaper, was one of the firsts to release the story on Asif's release, and the Public Prosecutor who handled the case had this to say:

"The case has been dropped against Mohammad Asif due to insignificance ...
he will be deported as soon as the police finalise the procedures. It is
definite that he committed the crime of smuggling and possessing 0.24 grams of
opium as he was caught red-handed ... however at certain cases and for a faster
litigation process the Public Prosecution drops a case due to insignificance and
deports the suspect."

What exactly is insignificance? Any lawyers out there who can explain this.

It definitely does not imply towards an an insignficant quantity of the drug as I know that people carrying 0.1g of the substance have been sentenced to 4 years in the past.

Asif was sent back to Pakistan on Friday and on arriving in Lahore he said:

“I have never used any wrong substance or drugs and that is why all my tests
taken by the Dubai authorities were negative... a small quantity of a herbal
medicine was in my wallet about which I was ignorant. I did not use that
medicine”

What bothers me is that he continues to call it herbal medicine when the prosecutors in Dubai have tested the substance and claimed that it was in fact opium.

This is the Chief Prosecutor's statement:

"Dubai Police's forensic laboratory results have confirmed that the
contraband substance that was discovered in Asif's wallet is opium. The suspect
faced charges of smuggling and possessing drugs."

So I guess the hakeem gave Asif some opium, which Asif thought was herbal medicine.

The question here is that, why did Asif require some herbal medicine? PCB Chairman, Dr. Nasim Ashraf answers that question:

“I met Asif today and he told me that the authorities found a small
substance from his wallet, which his herbal expert (hakeem) gave to him as a
pain-killer,”

Now now, a pain killer then.

If I understand WADA's regulations correctly then opium is banned substance because it helps relieve muscle pain, which helps in increasing stamina.

A pain killer relieves muscle pain.

So can the WADA ban Asif now for carrying a banned drug?

If news reports are to be believed then Asif was tested thrice during the Indian Premier League and his tests turned out negative. His tests turned out to be negative again when he was tested in Dubai.

So he can't be banned for consuming a banned substance.

However, there is a WADA regulation that states that smuggling banned drugs is an offence.

That is exactly what Asif did. But he didn't get charged. Can he still be banned given that he did actually smuggle the drug?

The other contradictory statement was regarding Asif's deportation from the UAE.

The Public Prosecutor's statement above clearly states that Asif was deported from Dubai. Deporation means that Asif will never be allowed to enter the UAE again.

All those who get deported get their finger prints and eye-scans taken by the police and airport authorities who make sure that they don't enter the country ever again.

Asif also provided his finger prints and eye-scans.

The report clearly spells out that Asif was deported and can never enter the UAE without special permission from the interior minister.

Over in the Pakistan newspapers, DAWN and The Nation, Nasim Ashraf has been claiming:

"Asif was neither charged by the Dubai authorities nor he was deported.
Instead he was repatriated"

Repatriated means that Asif is not banned from entering the UAE, even though the UAE's newspapers are claiming otherwise.

Whose right?

Knowing what happens to the drug related offenders, I'm quite sure that Asif was deported. Thats what happens to all of them whether they go through the 4 years imprisonment or not.

So why is Nasim Ashraf claiming otherwise? To get a clean slate from WADA?

What next then?

Another one of the PCB's ever famous 3-man committees has been formed and they will grill Asif and prepare a report, which will be submitted to the ICC.

A 2-week timeframe has been given for the report to be completed.

Another report has Nasim Ashraf claiming that Asif would be asked to pay the legal expenses incurred during the case.

Having full faith, or rather a lack of, I can safely say that Asif would be given a free slate with a fine amounting to how much was spent on legal fees, and he would be playing for Pakistan in the next few months.

The PCB will also find a way to keep WADA away from all of this.

Mohammad Asif's Italian Master Plan

While Mohammad Asif waits it out at a detention centre in Dubai's Airport, Shoaib Akhtar's 5-year ban has been reduced to 18 months by the appellate tribunal.

It really doesn't make a difference whether its a 5-year ban or an 18-month one, both mean the same thing - the end of Shoaib Akhtar's cricket career.

Shoaib hasn't spoken about his future yet but most probably it would have something to do with Bollywood.

His partner in crime, Mohammad Asif, though is already contemplating a different career path.

In his most recent communication with the media, Asif mentioned that if he is banned by the PCB, he will pursue a career in football.

Yes football.

What are the rules on drugs in football again?

I think Asif has a bigger plan. There's a master plan behind this speak.

The master plan that I am talking about involves the Football World Champions - Italy.

Asif has hired some underworld agents and sent them to Austria and Switzerland to abduct the Italian Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.

Once the abduction has taken place, Buffon will be transported to Attock Jail in Peshawar and no one will see him again.

Or they will.

The master plan involves Mohammad Asif going through a slight makeover with blue contact lenses and light hair-dye and taking buffon's place with the Italian football team.

The Italian mafia may be strong, but Pakistan's is stronger.

Asif, sitting in a Dubai jail, is calling the shots and the master plan has been put into action.

Missing in Action

The blogging world is like a suspense thriller really, you blink an eye and you miss something important.

As always I disappeared for a bit for a day and half during the weekend, and the only reason I am back today is because of the ongoing Pakistan vs India Final of the Kitply Cup.

I usually catch up on the blogosphere on Sundays after Thursday evening, but today was an exception and I realised I had missed quite a bit.

Uncle J Rod got picked as the Blog of the Month in this June's edition of The Wisden Cricketer. congrats Uncle J, you truly deserve it.

Meanwhile the tipping bloggers made their picks for the 20-20 match and the ODIs between England and New Zealand over at Sportsfreak's tipping competition for bloggers.

Miss Field, while congratulating Uncle J for the mention in the Wisden requests for support for the Silly Point, and also ponders who the Wisden will pick next month - us or the Suave one?

Ottayan asks readers on what their superstition used to be during Pakistan and India's matches in the past, while Som wonders why Geoff Lawson even opened his mouth.

Homer decided to go statistical this weekend as he tested Uncle J's theory on Micheal Clarke, and his analysis was as always well backed up blogosphere's statistical grand daddy (or Ninja as Uncle J likes to call him), David Barry.

And, the former Wisden Blog of the Month, King Cricket, told everyone how much they love Paul Collingwood.

While catching up on the cricket news I could not believe that England won the 20-20 match against New Zealand. Its besides the fact that I lost out on a point on the tipping competition, but how can the Kiwis lose to England in the shorter version of the game?

I wonder if $1 million had something to do with that.

In another part of the world, Mohammad Asif, whose case will now not be heard till 22nd June 2008, gave a very interesting interview over the phone booth to a Pakistani newspaper.

Whats funny is that he's thinking about a football career now! 2 weeks in a Dubai jail can do that to you I guess.

And in the West, The Aussies seem to be on top after the Windies had a sniff on day 1. This was Windies' best chance and they blew it up yet again. And that too when the Aussies unleashed their most unexciting spinner ever.

Its always good catching up on cricket - miss a day and a half and you've lost the plot. It was never like this before.

PCB to get rid of Domestic Cricket in Pakistan

If this is true, then that is exactly what is going to happen.

Following Mohammad Asif's detention due to drugs possession the PCB is hell bent on carrying out a clean up act.

I am in no way implying that first class cricketers in Pakistan use performance enhancing drugs. That is not the problem.

The problem is recreational drugs, which are way too common in Pakistan. Stuff like hashish and opium is easily available and used by a vast majority.

In colleges, among lawyers, policemen, drivers, sports people, you name it and these recereational drugs are there.

First class cricket is no different.

The news item reports that a number of coaches take drugs. That isn't news. Those familiar with Pakistan's domestic structure and the cricketers and support staff part of it would know that these drugs are very common.

Not only among coaches, but players, umpires, managers, trainers, everyone.

Let me stress again - not performance enhancing drugs but recreational drugs.

The problem though is that opium is a banned substance in WADA's list because it apparently eases the pain in muscles. But in Pakistan opium has been used as a recreational drug for as long as I have been alive.

I do believe a large number of people are also addicted to it.

This could have serious repurcussions on Pakistan's domestic cricket and everyone involved with it.

If the PCB do go ahead with the tests and start banning the offenders, they could end up banning more than half of the first class cricketers.

In my view, this is not a good step.

Before going ahead with these drugs tests, the PCB need to set up awareness campaigns where they can educate the first class cricketers on the harms of these drugs.

Set up clinics, lectures, conferences, whatever you need where doctors along with PCB management can advise these cricketers on why these drugs should not be used.

Give them a proper education before announcing that you are going to conduct tests and ban offenders.

That was the issue during the Shoaib Akhtar / Mohammad Asif case. They claimed no one had told them which substance was not allowed.

That may seem like an excuse but those from Pakistan will understand that. The authorities have never educated the public and then suprised them with punishments based on rules that no one knew existed. This is not only with cricket.

So I pray, for the sake of domestic cricket in Pakistan, for the sake of uneducated first class cricketers who come from remote villages, for the sake of Pakistan cricket's future, that the PCB for once thinks appropriately and starts educating the concerned against the usage of such drugs.

That is what the next season should be about.

Educate the first class cricketers, the U19 cricketers, the U15 cricketers, and continue doing that year after year.

The following season, start with the drugs tests.

Mohammad Asif's Whereabouts

Last night the News Channels started reporting that charges against Mohammad Asif had been dropped and the pacer was bein released by te Dubai Police and flying back to Pakistan.

Dawn, Jang, Gulfnews, and many other news papers carried the same story this morning.

False they all were.

Mohammad Asif is stil in custody at the Dubai Airport, and the charges can't be dropped at the moment because no charges have been filed yet.

The substance that Asif was carrying is at present in a lab awaiting test results. As is Asif's urine sample.

No charges can be laid till the test results come in, which is why Asif remains in custody with the airport authorities and not the Dubai Police.

If the substance is found out to be an illegal one, the airport authorities will file a charge against Asif and a trial will be conducted.

PCB and other well connected political figures of Pakistan are working diligently behind the scenes to get Asif released, however nothing can be done as long as tests results from the labs are unavialable.

Another issue that is delaying the entire process is that a member of the UAE Royal Family passed away in an accident yesterday due to which all the state departments are officially closed for 3 days of mourning.

Thus the results from the lab, filing of charges, hearing at the court, and so on can take longer than expected.

Now what does all this mean for Asif?

If the substance is found out to be hashish or opium as is widely speculated, the he faces a term of 4 years in jail as per the UAE laws.

Furthermore, if it is in fact opium, and Asif too tests positive for the substance his cricket career will all be over as opium is listed as a banned substance by WADA. With this being his 2nd drugs offence, he faces a life ban.

The men working behind the scenes may be able to get Asif pardoned from the 4-year sentence, but saving his cricket career will be beyong them too.

For the meantime, Sohail Khan has replaced Asif in the 16-member squad for the tri series in Bangladesh.

I will keep you updated on this.

Opium or Hashish?

Thats the speculation as of now, though reports are saying that no case has been filed yet against Asif.

I for one know that both the drugs are quite common amongst Pakistani cricketers. They are a serious offence in Dubai but in placed like Pakistan, they are commonly used.

Definitely not performance enhancing drugs, but I'm not sure what WADA's take on this is.

Reports are also saying that its not sure whether Asif has been arrested or is in custody.

What I want to know is what was going on during the last 48 hours since the "arrest".

Cricinfo has this to say:

"Dubai's laws on drug possession and use are among the strictest in the region, though the top hierarchy of the PCB has always enjoyed close ties with leaders in the United Arab Emirates."

So they are already implying that the connections would let Asif off.

PCB is due to give a statement shortly.

Another addition to the Paki Bad Boys List.