Pak team left for T20 World Cup without dopes tests

The Pakistan cricket team has proceeded to England for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup without any of the players having undergone dope tests as has been the practice in recent times.

A senior official of the board confirmed on Sunday that no out-of-competition tests were carried out by the board this time prior to the World Cup.

"The reason is that we have already been constantly educating and informing the players about the anti-doping policy and regulations of the ICC," the official said.

He pointed out that the Pakistan Cricket Board had conducted out-of-competition tests few months back and all the players tested negative.

The official, however, confirmed that the ICC would pick nine players from each men's team and two from women's teams in the Twenty20 World Cup for the tests.

"We are confident there will be no problems with doping issues," he added.

Two of the Pakistani players, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, who have faced doping issues in recent times are both not in the Pakistan squad for next month's tournament.