Lahore, Nov 11 : Pakistan’s banned fast bowler Mohammad Asif has reportedly urged the PCB to help and cooperate with him to enable to resume his international career, PCB’s new Chief Operating Officer Saleem Altaf has revealed.

“Asif has written a letter to the (PCB) chairman and wants the cricket board to cooperate with him so that he could start playing international cricket,” The News quoted Altaf as telling reporters on Monday.

He added: “We will see what legal support we could give him in clearing his name. At the moment his suspension stays.”

The PCB had banned the right-arm fast bowler from playing international and national cricket after he tested positive for the banned substance nandrolone in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in May.

Asif has appealed to the IPL’s drug tribunal against the charge.

Meanwhile, the fast bowler’s lawyer Shahid Karim said that the tribunal, which adjourned after hearing Asif’s appeal last month in Mumbai, has not yet given a new date.

Both the ‘A’ and ‘B’ samples of Asif had tested positive at a laboratory accredited to the World Anti-Doping Agency, but with a different concentration of nandrolone in each sample. Asif had not applied for a therapeutic use exemption for the drug.

The three-member drug tribunal is made up of former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar, Dr. Ravi Bapat and lawyer Shirish Gupte.

After the doping charge, while on his way home from playing in the IPL in June, Asif was detained for 19 days in Dubai after authorities allegedly found a substance containing opium in his wallet at the international airport.

But, Asif was released without being charged for any offense.

Earlier, in 2006, Asif and fellow Pakistan paceman Shoaib Akhtar were pulled out of that year’s Champions Trophy after both tested positive for nandrolone during the PCB’s internal testing. (ANI)