The ugly episode, which is now around seven months old, has kept the lanky fast bowler, who remained under confinement in the Gulf state for about three weeks, under stress blocking his entry into competitive cricket.
“After receiving a report on Asif’s detention from the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday, the PCB decided to form a [three-member] committee which will be headed by Director Human Resources Wasim Bari with Media Director Asif Sohail and PCB Dr Sohail Salim as its members,” PCB Chief Operating Officer Saleem Altaf told reporters on Thursday.
Saleem further said the committee would start working from Friday as Bari, who was currently in Karachi to make arrangements for the back-to-back one-dayers against Sri Lanka, would join it soon.
“We have two members who will begin the work immediately and Bari will join us soon after completing his duties in Karachi,” Saleem stated.
He said the ICC had also asked if the PCB had taken any disciplinary action against Asif, however, he continued, the current management claimed since they had no documents pertaining to the Asif case, as the previous management did not hand it over (to the present board authorities), they could not proceed with the matter.
The PCB decided to form the committee to work on the report sent by the ICC, he said.
“Haroon Lorgat, the ICC Chief Executive, sent the report and the PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt, after taking legal opinion, formed this committee,” he said.
“The committee will summon Asif and after considering every aspect of the case will present the report to the chairman,” he said.
Asif was detained at Dubai airport on April 1 as 0.24 grams of opium was found in his wallet, while coming from India after playing for Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Though the Dubai authorities deported him after a 19-day detention, Asif was again involved in another controversy when the IPL authorities announced that he had tested positive in a doping test.
The previous PCB management had formed a committee to probe Asif’s detention in Dubai including then COO Shafqat Naghmi, Director Human Resources Nadeem Akram and Director Cricket Zakir Khan.
Later, when the IPL announced that Asif had tested positive the committee did initiate an inquiry, waiting for IPL’s decision.
However, Asif decided to challenge the doping result and went to Switzerland to test his ‘B’ sample. Though the second test also endorsed the first one, the quantity of the banned substance in the two tests was different. And to defend the case, Asif is to appear before the IPL tribunal in Mumbai on Jan 24.
Meanwhile, Asif, who was to go to India on Thursday to solve his arrears matter with the IPL authorities, could not leave after the PIA cancelled the New Delhi-bound flight due to limited number of passengers. Though Asif was aware of the flight cancellation, he went to the Lahore airport and also informed the reporters that he was going to India.
Talking to reporters, Asif said he was going to India to settle some financial issues with his IPL side Delhi Daredevils.
“The Delhi Daredevils meeting was being held and I wanted to attend it to ask for my dues and now I will try to go there by a first available flight,” he added.
Asif emphasised he would appear before the IPL tribunal to defend his case, whether the PCB allowed him to go to India or not. However, Saleem said the board had no objection over Asif’s visit to India as he had to defend his case.
Asif claimed that his case was strong, hoping he would be acquitted from the IPL case.
On the new developments about his Dubai detention, Asif was not aware of the identity of the people who were involved in leaking the inquiry report as he did not receive it.