Shoaibs doc says he carried inhaler not syringes

The personal doctor of Pakistans fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who is presently representing Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, has rubbished a Pakistani daily report claiming that the Indian custom officials at the Mumbai Airport had caught him carrying empty syringes.

Mumbai, May 19 : The personal doctor of Pakistan's fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who is presently representing Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, has rubbished a Pakistani daily report claiming that the Indian custom officials at the Mumbai Airport had caught him carrying empty syringes.

He clarified that the fast bowler was carrying an inhaler as he suffers from asthama.

Dr Tauseef Razzak further said that a passenger sitting behind Shoiab was actually caught with empty syringes. "I have spoken to Shoaib and he said the passenger behind him at the customs check-up had syringes in his luggage and the media had linked that with him," the Dawn quoted the doctor as saying.

He added: "The talk about Shoaib telling the customs officials that he needed the syringes to inject insulin as he was a diabetic is not true. He has asthma problems and uses an inhaler for which he has got permission of the ICC."

Refuting the report altogether, Kolkata Knight Riders team manager Jay Bhattacharjee pointed out three discrepancies in the report, and said: "Firstly, Shoaib traveled to India from Lahore and not Karachi. Secondly, he traveled to Kolkata via Delhi, not Mumbai. And thirdly, he did not travel with any hand baggage, therefore obviously there were no syringes."

"We are contemplating all action including legal against the paper. We are talking to lawyers. We want to see whether we can make out a case, then we will proceed. Both Shoaib and the Kolkata Knight Riders are extremely upset over the clear attempt to slander him," said Bhattacharjee. "

ANI