Asif asks for drugs hearing delay

Asif has been dogged by controversy in recent years

Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif has requested a drugs hearing to be postponed until mid-September.

The 25-year-old faces a potential Indian Premier League ban after his 'B' sample tested positive for the steroid nandrolone during the competition.

Asif has already been suspended by the Pakistan Cricket Board.

"We have asked for a date for some time in the second week of September, we have yet to complete some formalities," said Asif's lawyer Shahid Karim.

Asif had been scheduled to appear in front of the IPL's three-man panel on 30 August, but Karim said his client needed more time to prepare his case.

Asif had tested positive for the banned steroid while playing for the Delhi Daredevils and had asked for his B sample to be analysed.

But the quantity of nandrolone between the two samples varied, the second providing a concentration of 5.4 nanograms per millilitre of urine compared with 6.2 nanograms in the first.

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"I can tell you that the quantity of nandrolone found has varied, which we can contest," Karim said last week.

Dr Danish Zaheer, president of the Sports Medicine Association of Pakistan, said the discrepancy should provide strong grounds for an appeal.

"There is a major discrepancy in the two samples of Asif which came out positive, and in such cases, the player has a chance to be cleared," he said.

"I still remember that an Indian gold medallist athlete Sunita Rani had a similar case of varied readings at the Asian Games in 2002, and she won her case."

The confirmation that Asif has tested positive for a banned substance is the latest in a series of controversial incidents in which the player has been involved.

In 2006, both he and fellow Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar were found to have taken nandrolone after failing internal PCB drug tests.

The pair were banned for one and two years respectively, before the ruling was overturned on appeal.

In 2007, Asif was involved in a dressing-room altercation, during which he was struck with a bat by Shoaib, who was later sent home from the World Twenty20 tournament.

In June, Asif was detained at Dubai airport on suspicion of carrying illegal drugs.

He was held in Dubai for two weeks before returning to Pakistan after a decision was made not to press charges.

"I am shocked and surprised because I was extra cautious and never used any banned substances," said Asif at the time.