To err is costly, finds Akhtar and Asif

By John Cheeran
In this day and age, it is no surprise that sports persons cheat and get caught.
Everyone has done it, and the most famous of them all being Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson.
With that knowledge there to fall back on, Pakistan fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif should have nothing to be ashamed, of what they have done.
Even among cricketers Akhtar has worthy predecessors though he is the first to be banned for taking a banned steroid (Nandrolone) and his punishment is the severest since Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne was suspended for one year before the 2003 World Cup for taking a diuretic.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) drugs tribunal banned Shoaib Akhtar for two years and fellow fast bowler Mohammad Asif for one year on November 1 after finding them guilty of doping offences.
The bans, effective from October 15, rule both out of next year's World Cup. That bit is a worrying news for Pakistan cricket fans.
The ban prevents the players from taking part in any international or domestic cricket and they have also been put on the Pakistan Olympic Association list of doping offenders.
Shoaib and Asif are also ineligible to receive any direct or indirect funding from the PCB or any of its affiliates.
For young Asif (23) this has to be a chastening experience; and for the seasoned Akhtar (31), this is the beginning of the end. For a fast bowler to rev up his career after a two-year break is going to be an arduous task indeed.
The most surprising thing in this episode is that Akhtar and Asif declined the chance to give a second B test.
Intikab Alam, former Pakistan captain and a member of the tribunal that passed the verdict, has suggested that the only reason for players not asking for a B test could have been that their retest would also have been positive.
That is, in plain language, confession of guilt.