If the ball-tampering fiasco during the fourth Test against England at the Oval and the captaincy issue was not enough, the Pakistan cricket team had another storm brewing in their run-up to the ICC Champions Trophy.

Two of their key players, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, tested positive for Nandrolone, a banned anabolic steroid, a day before their opening game against Sri Lanka at the Sawai Man Singh stadium in Jaipur on Tuesday.

The players have been withdrawn from the Champions Trophy squad. The Pakistan Cricket Board is discussing the replacements with the ICC.

The PCB had arranged to test 19 players from World Anti-Doping Agency accredited laboratory in Malaysia and have asked for a reconfirmation of the reports.

Australia's Shane Warne was the first cricketer to be suspended for taking banned substances. The leg-spinner tested positive for a diuretic before the 2003 World Cup and was banned from the game for a year.

Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer said he had asked the medical panel if the Pakistan Cricket Board can conduct the tests and pre-empt any adverse situations later in the tournament.

"This was the first time the International Cricket Council had officially instituted random drug testing for a tournament. We came with the idea of having dope tests at the end of September to make sure what the players were doing," Woolmer told a media conference in Jaipur on Monday.