Mohammad Asif barred from entering United Arab Emirates | Sport | guardian.co.uk
Pakistan's fast bowler Mohammad Asif will not be allowed to enter the United Arab Emirates for two Twenty20 games against England next week after authorities in Dubai refused to lift a ban imposed upon him for an alleged drugs offence.
Asif was deported from Dubai in June 2008 for allegedly possessing a small quantity of opium in his wallet as he arrived in the UAE on a flight from India after playing in the IPL. He was en route to Lahore from Mumbai when he was detained by Dubai customs officials
The Pakistan Cricket Board made a second attempt last week to get the ban revoked, but it was refused. The board also failed to get clearance for Asif to play in the UAE last year, against New Zealand.
Wasim Bari, the PCB's chief operating officer, said: "We made a request with the UAE authorities but they turned it down as it's not possible under their laws."
Asif also underwent a year-long suspension for testing positive for the banned substance nandrolone. He made his limited-overs comeback during the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in England and was hoping to use the Twenty20 matches against England to prepare for the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies at the end of April.
Pakistan are in turmoil, not for the first time, with speculation surrounding the positions of both coach and Twenty20 captain, and with their vice-captain dropped from the squad.
They have retained Shoaib Malik as captain for both matches even though Shahid Afridi will be available for the second game after serving a two-match ban for ball tampering, leading to speculation that Afridi's ball-biting antics have caused so much embarrassment that Pakistan might yet decide to sack him.
Bari denied that Afridi might lose his job. "It's a short tour so we decided to keep the same captain for both games," he said.
Intikhab Alam, Pakistan's coach, faces a board inquiry ahead of the Dubai games and he has been excluded from the trip.
Pakistan will also be without their vice-captain Kamran Akmal, who has been dropped after a mediocre tour of Australia in which he dropped four catches during the second Test, which Pakistan lost from a seemingly impregnable position.
Pakistan squad: Shoaib Malik (capt), Imran Farhat, Imran Nazir, Khalid Latif, Shahid Afridi, Fawad Alam, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Yasir Arafat, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Talha, Wahab Riaz, Umar Gul.
