Pakistan bowler Mohammad Asif has protested his innocence after it was confirmed he had failed a dope test during the Indian Premier League earlier this year."I have taken no banned substances or drugs and I am innocent," Asif said.
"I am hoping the board will support me and help me clear my name. I will take a decision on having the sample 'B" tested after consulting with the board," Asif said.
"I just don't know how this has happened because I have been very careful with the medicines I use," he said.
The 25-year-old was left out of Pakistan's Champions Trophy preliminary squad once the positive was confirmed by the organisers of the Indian Premier League.
"Obviously in these circumstances he can't be considered for selection. The board has officially informed him of his positive test," Zakir Khan, the PCB's director of cricket operations, said.
Khan said Asif had the right to appeal and ask for B sample test, but the board would be discussing the issue with him soon.
"We have been told his test was conducted on May 30 and has come back as positive. We are disappointed and shocked at this development," he said.
Asif, who has played 11 tests and 31 one-day internationals, was last month detained in Dubai for 19 days for alleged possession of a banned substance.
He was released by the authorities without being charged but a Pakistan board committee is probing the incident to see if he violated its anti-doping regulations.
After his detention, Asif claimed the substance found on him was an ayurvedic medicine he was prescribed by a local "Hakeem" [ ayurvedic practitioner] for his elbow injury.
A board official said it would investigate the issue of Asif using ayurvedic medicine and speak to the person who prescribed it to the player.
"We have to see now what substance exactly has been found in his tests," the official said on condition of anonymity.
The 25-year-old Asif returned a positive sample in random tests undertaken by a World Anti-Doping Agency accredited laboratory.
"The Indian Premier League compared the result from the WADA-approved laboratory in Switzerland with the data collected by IDTM, the Sweden-based independent agency which organised the anti-doping testing in accordance with WADA standards, to confirm the player in violation is Mohammad Asif," said the IPL in a statement.
The lucrative league was organised in April and May.
The second doping controversy involving Asif could seriously jeopardise the international career of the talented bowler.
In 2006, Asif and fellow strike bowler Shoaib Akhtar tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone when the PCB held tests before the ICC Champions Trophy in India.
They were initially handed one and two-year bans respectively by the PCB's anti-doping commission until the suspension was controversially lifted on appeal.
The International Cricket Council tightened its doping laws after WADA made an unsuccessful appeal against the reprieve to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in July.
CAS said it was forced to dismiss the appeal because the PCB did not recognise the court in its regulations.
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