Shoaib and Asif cleared

Shoaib Akhtar's career may not be over following the decision

Pakistan fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif have had their drugs bans overturned.

Shoaib was suspended for two years and Asif one after testing positive for nandrolone in the build-up to October’s ICC Champions Trophy.

The players appealed against the bans - imposed by a tribunal appointed by the Pakistan Cricket Board - claiming they never knowingly took any outlawed substances.

And a PCB anti-doping appeals committee overturned the suspensions.

Chairman Fakhruddin Ibrahim, a retired judge, said: "This appeal committee therefore holds that Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif will not be deemed to have committed a doping offence.

"The ban and punishment imposed by the earlier tribunal is hereby set aside as being contrary to the provision of laws."

Mohammad Asif was handed a one-year ban for his failed test

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Had 31-year-old Shoaib’s appeal proved unsuccessful, many feared it could have spelt the end of his career.

Shoaib and 23-year-old Asif provided positive samples in independent tests on 19 players, carried out by the PCB.

The board swiftly announced suspensions for the bowlers and they were withdrawn from the squad for the Champions Trophy.

The punishment was confirmed by a three-member panel comprising barrister Shahid Hamid, former Pakistan captain Intikhab Alam and medical expert Waqar Ahmed.

Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq responded by calling for the bans to be reduced, warning that he feared for Shoaib's cricketing future.

"If Shoaib's ban is not reduced it will be very difficult for him to come back," Inzamam said last month.

"It would be difficult for anyone who is 30-plus and out of the game for two years to come back from that kind of ban, not just him."