Asif could make return to Pakistan team
Published:Tuesday | September 22, 2009 | 12:59 PM
Fast bowler Mohammad Asif could make his return to international cricket after a one-year doping ban when Pakistan take on the West Indies in the Champions Trophy tomorrow.
The 12-month ban ended today and the 26-year-old Asif, once compared with Australian great Glen McGrath, is once again eligible to play international cricket.
Although Asif\'s ban officially ended today, the International Cricket Council (ICC) allowed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), to include the fast bowler in the squad last month, although he was not permitted to train with his teammates in training camps in Lahore and Karachi earlier this month.
Asif was suspended from international cricket last year after he tested positive for the banned substance nandrolone while competing for Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League.
He was also detained at Dubai airport for 19 days when a small amount of opium was found in his wallet, an offense for which he was fined 1 million rupees by the PCB.
The paceman has a history of doping controversies.