Times Now
New Delhi, Jun 4: Pakistan cricketer Mohd Asif, who was arrested on Tuesday under serious charges of carrying contrabrand drugs, has been given clean chit for the same, Times Now channel reported.
According to the channel, Pakistan ambassador said to UAE that charges against the Pakistan bowler have been dropped. Asif would take the first flight immediately after he's released from Dubai.
Earlier, he was detained at the Dubai airport for allegedly possessing a contraband drug.
"He was carrying this substance in very small quantity in his wallet for the last four or five months and even forgot about it. He is also not totally sure what it is and it was prescribed to him by a local hakeem for treatment of his elbow injury," PCB’s human resource director Nadeem Akram reportedly said.
"We have sent his blood and urine samples for testing and the results are awaited," Akram said. Akram denied any knowledge of the slapping incident. "I really don’t know because neither Asif nor the local authorities have mentioned about this to me," he said.
PCB, meanwhile, has hired a leading legal firm, Angel and Afridi, to handle the case in Dubai. When TOI contacted a top official of the PCB, he couldn’t confirm the nature of the substance found on Asif. But speculation was rife that the Pakistani fast bowler was carrying either opium or hashish.
On Friday, Asif played the IPL semifinal for Delhi Daredevils against Team Jaipur in Mumbai. According to IPL sources, the cricketer was tested by WADA officials on the day of the match.
"The report of his sample is expected to come in a few days," a top official said. After Delhi lost the semi-final, Asif was supposed to board the Indian Airlines flight from Delhi to Lahore on Saturday evening.
But the Daredevils reached Delhi from Mumbai around 11pm on Saturday. By that time, it was too late for Asif to catch the Lahore flight and there were no direct flights for the next two days. So, he was booked on an Emirates flight to Dubai at 4am on Sunday and was supposed to fly to Lahore from there.
"Instead of going to a hotel for a few hours, he preferred to reach the Delhi international airport from the domestic terminal," a source close to the cricketer said.
But no one knows what Asif did in the interim. "We are shocked to hear the news. In the dressing room, we have never seen him behaving abnormally. He is very friendly and I have never seen him take any pills during the entire IPL," a Daredevils player said.
Meanwhile, Asif was named in the Pakistan team scheduled to play a tri-series in Bangladesh which also involves India. If PCB has its way, the cricketer will be going on the tour and will probably be free to take part in international matches till "proved guilty".
But some of the Indian cricket board officials are not too impressed with the way PCB has handled drug issues in the past. The International Cricket Council even expressed its disappointment at the way PCB dealt with the Asif-Akhtar drug controversy.
"We are really confused with PCB's policy decisions. On one hand, they suspend or ban a cricketer and on another, an inquiry commission comes and permits that guy to play again for their country," a top BCCI official remarked.
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