May 18, 2008	Sunday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 12, 1429

NEW DELHI, May 17: Following media reports that Shoaib Akhtar was found carrying large number of syringes in his luggage at an airport, Chairman and Commissioner of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Lalit Modi said on Saturday that the league will conduct a random dope test on the players participating in the Twenty20 tournament.

After a report in the press which claimed that Shoaib Akhtar was questioned about a large number of syringes in his baggage before leaving for Mumbai earlier this month at the Karachi airport, the IPL commissioner announced that the test will be conducted soon.

Meanwhile, random dope test on IPL players were to start on Saturday by a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) team.

Modi said as per the ICC rules the WADA team would go about collecting samples from players from Saturday.

“There are surprise dope tests to begin today (Saturday). The (WADA) team from Sweden has already come down. We don’t know which team will be subjected to the tests first or which player’s samples would be taken first,” Modi said.

“As per the ICC rules, the WADA team is here and the dope tests will start immediately.”

The WADA team arrives close on the heels of media reports that Shoaib carried an unusually high number of syringes in his baggage.

Modi, however, rubbished the reports. “I have verified the reports, no such things were found,” the BCCI vice-president stated.

The ICC rules on doping adhere to the WADA code which lists a two-year ban for a first-time offender and a life-ban for any dope violation the next time.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has played down the report that Shoaib was questioned at the Karachi airport.

The report said that prior to boarding the flight to Mumbai en route to Kolkata the custom officials had questioned Shoaib on an inordinately large supply of syringes in his luggage-reportedly as many as three dozen in number.

The fast bowler, who is playing for Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, told the custom officials he needed the syringes because he was a diabetic, the report said.

The first time one has heard off the paceman suffering from this ailment. When a senior official of the board was asked about the incident, he said it was no big deal as the syringes were empty and contained no substances.

Shafqat Naghmi, PCB’s Chief Operating Officer also showed ignorance over the medical history of Shoaib saying he would have to check up to find out if the fast bowler was a diabetic.

But the official made it clear that Shoaib had gone to India to play in the IPL and currently he was under the preview of the IPL rules and regulations.

When reminded about Shoaib’s record of having tested positive for a banned substance, nandrolone in 2006 with team-mate Mohammad Asif, Naghmi said the IPL was recognised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) but it was not an ICC event.

“I don’t thing it is a big deal. The syringes were empty and first we have to confirm if the report has got all the facts right. There is no question of the PCB contemplating any action against Shoaib for this,” Naghmi stated.

Shoaib is playing in the IPL after the three-member appellate tribunal, hearing his appeal against the five-year ban imposed on him, suspended the ban for a month to allow him to play in the cash-rich Twenty20 competition.

Another IPL participant, retired Aussie spin wizard Shane Warne, who is the captain-cum-coach of Rajasthan Royals, had also served a one-year ban after testing positive for banned diuretics during the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.—Agencies