Ahmad Shehzad provisionally suspended by PCB

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has provisionally suspended opener Ahmad Shehzad after he failed a drug test conducted during a domestic tournament in April.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has issued a formal charge sheet to the player confirming reports in recent days that Shehzad had tested positive for a banned substance.

Shehzad lost his Test place following Pakistan’s tour to the West Indies in mid-2017 and has not played a one day international since last October.

He was part of Pakistan’s Twenty20 squad for the team’s two international matches last month, managing scores of 14 and 24, but missed out on playing for the tri-series Twenty20 in Zimbabwe which ended a week ago.

In the past, pace bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif were both caught using banned substances in 2006 but later reprieved after a tribunal set aside their drug tests.

Later rule changes led to a two-year ban for left-arm spinner Raza Hasan, who failed a doping test in 2015.