Shoaib and Asif found guilty of doping...

Can things get any worse? The PCB tested the team for dope in September at the behest of the coach Bob Woolmer. This whole tournament is turning out to be a nightmare mixed in with a bad Lollywood movie. The results of the test were supposed to be announced on Tuesday, the day of the first game vs. Sri Lanka! Can things get any more dramatic? Well...they came a day earlier and Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar are going home. Apparently Rana might be in trouble too. Woolmer thinks perhaps there was something in the injections that these players were taking while they were recovering from their injuries. I certainly hope so.

However this was only 1 test. Shouldn't there be atleast a second test just to confirm the findings before the PCB sendt the players home? THey are certainly not supporting the players in this instance. Sure, the lab tests are positive, but in such a big scandal, one needs to double check!

The tournament: Now that we have lost our bowling spearheads, I don't think we have much of a chance. The replacements Arafat and whoever the other guy is are useless.

What about them? If the tests are confirmed positive, these guys need to be suspended. THere is no room for drugs in our sport. Its always tougher to deal with these things when the culprits are from your country. Well, I say suspend them.

What about this drug? Standard steroid structure. I've studied this one before. It can be in the blood in natural quantities like testosterone. However, I am guessing that Asif and Shoaib had more than the 2 nangram/ml which is the limit.

Once again, Pakistan has become the laughing stock of the cricketing world. From BBC...

(Shoaib) said: "I have done nothing wrong. The president has asked me not to comment at this stage." Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer said he was shocked and disappointed when he heard the news but pledged his team would carry on in the tournament. "I have never come across anything like this in my life. We will have to be strong in these situations," he commented. The pair recently returned after long-term injuries. When drugs are used in any sport it is not a great day for that sport and this not a great day for cricket.

"I'm just wondering whether the substance that has been found was in one of those injections they use for those injuries," said Woolmer. He admitted it had been a turbulent six weeks for the Pakistan team, following the forfeited Oval Test fiasco and its repercussions. "When you're hurricane it is pretty stormy and I guess we are in a bit of a hurricane now but we'll get through that. "Cricket has to come first, regardless of what individuals do and we know we are trying to do the right things. It's bad timing but that's the situation." "We've just got to put aside and get on with the Champions Trophy."

Former Pakistan captain Asif Iqbal has urged the Pakistan board to take a hard line if the test results are confirmed by the findings from the B samples. "There should be no place whatsoever in any sport for people who take these performance enhancing drugs. They should just be told 'That's it, there's no place for you'," he told the BBC.

PCB head of cricket operations Saleem Altaf said they were expecting the result of the two players' B samples on Tuesday. "As per the preliminary test, the PCB has asked for reconfirmation of the test from the Malaysian laboratory and the results are expected by tomorrow," he said. "PCB has decided to withdraw the two players from the ICC Champions Trophy immediately and they will return home on the first available flight."

England batsman Andrew Strauss said the news had rocked cricket. Speaking on BBC Five Live: "When drugs are used in any sport it is not a great day for that sport and this not a great day for cricket. "The process has got to be gone through and proved. That is the situation and if bans are in place that has got to happen I think. "I don't think it is very common in cricket. I have not heard of it in any team I have been playing in."

I really don't know if its a smart decision to send the players home. Obviously its not good for the team, but should the PCB have waited to double check the tests?