
Mohammad Asif is the kind of talent that surfaces once in many years. Sadly, he is also the kind of person who throws caution to the winds, even risking a bright career in the process.
Even though only the results of the 'B' sample procured during the dope test in the Indian Premier League (IPL) will confirm his drug offence, the writing seems to be on the wall.
A ban from the IPL is imminent and one can also expect some punishment from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) which is sad because he has been caught again after being let off two years ago. In between, he has also had to spend 19 days in confinement in Dubai for possessing a recreational drug.
Asif's stock has fallen so much in the past few weeks that instead of the image of a fast bowler coming in smoothly on his run-up, the one that comes to mind is one of a drug cheat. But the position that he finds himself in also reflects the kind of support he got in the two intervening years. Or rather the lack of it.
There is no justifying Asif's reckless behaviour, but as it turned out, it were the officials who condoned it in the first place by backing him to the hilt. Even if they decided to be lenient with him the first time around, they could have ensured some counselling for him. So far, we have not heard of any support for the player who was widely acknowledged as the best fast bowler from the Pakistan stable since Mohammad Sami's failed promise.
Asif is not the only player from the sub-continent to find himself in a sticky situation as much because of lack of guidance from officials as himself. Shoaib Akhtar, Harbhajan Singh and S. Sreesanth are players that come to mind immediately when one thinks of similar examples in the recent past. They are all products of systems that failed to do with one stitch what finally needed nine.
One hopes that officials of the sub-continent remain stringent like they were in Harbhajan's disciplinary case. Sreesanth, who was concentrating on sledging rather than his bowling, got away but the reprimand seemed strong enough for him not to repeat such misdemeanours in remaining matches of the mid-summer extravaganza. One could see he was holding himself back and it was not surprising that he was among wickets later in the tournament.
Similar has been the story of suspect bowling actions.
After a lenient system in place, it is being taken up very seriously in India, what with a list of 20 drawn up from the domestic circuit. It is the right move, and sure to do good under the watchful eye of former international umpire S. Venkatraghavan.
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