September 20, 2008	Saturday	Ramazan 19, 1429

LAHORE, Sept 19: Former Test captain Salim Malik’s lawyer has claimed that there was no life ban on the batsman and he was only contesting his case in a civil court in Lahore against the one million-rupee fine imposed on him by a judicial commission probing a match-fixing scandal way back in 2000.

His lawyer Shahid Karim said that although the judicial commission had imposed a life ban on Salim, it had been dropped by the Supreme Court, which referred the case about the fine to a lower court. The commission had imposed a life ban on Salim in addition to the fine.

Moreover, Shahid, who also represents the medium-fast bowler Mohammad Asif in the dope testing case made out against him during the Indian Premier League (IPL), said that his client was ready to appear before the league’s anti-doping tribunal to clear himself from the allegation.

Asif had challenged the positive report of his sample announced by a Switzerland laboratory. Though his B sample also tested positive, according to the experts, the difference of the weight of the banned substance found in both the samples made a way for Asif to get himself cleared from the allegation.

He said all the delay in this case was from the IPL’s side.