PCB dope testing before world Twenty20 meet

The Pakistan board has decided to carry out dope tests on the 30 players in the provisional Twenty20 World Championship squad before the final 15-man side is announced next month.

Nasim Ashraf, the PCB chairman, has instructed the board officials to get the tests carried out as soon as possible so that the results are received from a laboratory in Malaysia before the final squad is picked on August 10. The tournament takes place in September.

"We will begin dope testing on the players as soon as possible," said Ahsan Malik, PCB's Communications Director. "It will take up to ten days to get the results of the tests, which is why the players' urine samples will be obtained over the next few days."

Malik said that the board may take samples from some players in Lahore and the others in Karachi. Most of the players on Pakistan's provisional squad are currently in Lahore but will move to Karachi later this week for the final phase of training before leaving for South Africa.

Malik said he was confident all players would pass the tests but the board wants to be certain before announcing the final squad. He said it was the board's policy to carry out internal dope tests ahead of major ICC events, a practice that would be continued.