The Prince of Pakistan Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and his Dutch partner Rojer Jean-Julien have won the Estoril Open men's doubles title by defeating  their Aussie-Spanish opponents Julian Knowle and David Marrero in a close match.

                  The duo triumphed in straight sets bagging a 7-5 7-5 win. This win now means that Aisam still has a chance of making it to the London Olympics 2012.

Asif made his International debut in 2005; against Australia. A wicketless game at Sydney was not the start he would have hoped for but the raw product was there to see. By 2006, Asif had become a household name. Performances against India in Karachi and Sri Lanka in Kandy were some of the best seen. It seemed Asif could pitch the ball on the same spot at will every time and make the ball talk his language.

At moments of great enthusiasm it seemed to me that no one in the world has ever made something this beautiful and pleasing to the eye than seeing Asif bowling at his pomp. The in-swingers that Asif bowled were near unplayable; he along with Glen McGrath revolutionised people’s opinions that you had to bowl at 140+ to be feared.

Yet what did come with Asif was extra baggage. He failed a drugs test in October 2006 along with Shoaib Akhtar. This was on the eve of the ICC Champions Trophy and both players had to be dropped. There was an incident of Asif being hit by Akhtar with a bat in 2007 and he was caught in possession of drugs in Dubai Airport; returning to Pakistan from the IPL.

English county club, Hamphsire have rejected Shoaib

Malik's claims of being offered a contract for the

current season. Just three days earlier, the Sialkot

Stallions skipper told The Express Tribune that he

had refused various county offers, including ones

from Hampshire and Essex, in order to make himself

available for national selection.

"I was offered county contracts through my

representative but I refused to sign the deal because

of a strict clause in those contracts.The teams sought

assurance that I’ll be forced to play for them if I sign

the deal, even if I was selected for Pakistan. That left

me with no option but to turn them down as making a

return to the national side is my priority. I’m hoping to

regain my place in the squad ahead of the Sri Lanka tour"

Meanwhile,  Essex also dismissed all such claims. “No

county is permitted to include such a clause,” confirmed

an Essex County Cricket Club spokesperson. “An NOC

would not be granted if it were included.”

Malik last represented Pakistan in a Twenty20 match against England on February 27.