Shoaib, Asif not to be rushed in side: PCB

Lahore, Dec 6 (UNI) There is still some way to go before Shoaib Akhtar and Mohd Asif rattle batsmen in international cricket again as the pace duo -- exonerated of the doping charges -- will have to earn their place in the national squad, the PCB clarified.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Nasim Ashraf said Shoaib and Asif would have to go through the grind of domestic cricket before they could stake their claim to represent the country.

''It is great news for us that the players have been cleared by an independent committee,'' Ashraf was quoted as saying by 'The News'.

''But we will not rush them in the Pakistan team. They haven't played any competitive cricket for more than two months and we will have to ease them in the side.'' The decision effectively rules out the pacer duo from the ongoing one-day series againt the West Indies. Shoaib and Asif had eariler missed the ICC Champions Trophy in India and home Test series against the West Indies in wake of the doping charges.

Shoaib and Asif last played for Pakistan in the fifth one-day against England in Birmingham in September.

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