Shoaib Akhtar’s fate hangs by test results, his own words

KARACHI - Enigmatic Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar is expected to know over this weekend whether he is eligible for an international comeback as he awaits results of a series of strenuous tests at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.

Shoaib, who turns 34 next month, has been asked by interim chief selector Wasim Bari to appear in a series of fitness tests which will be supervised by expert trainers.

Bari has made it clear that only after Shoaib is declared a hundred percent fit will he be considered for national duty.

A former Pakistan Test cricketer, Bari said that once Shoaib passes the fitness test, he will consult team captain Younis Khan and coach Intikhab Alam over his possible return to the national squad.

Bari is scheduled to visit Colombo during the second Test, which will begin Sunday, in a bid to take inputs from the national team management before naming the One-day squad. Pakistan will play five One-day Internationals and a Twenty20 game against Sri Lanka from July 30 to August 12.

Shoaib believes he is fully fit and says that he will soon force his way back into the national squad.

Shoaib, who was left out of World Twenty20 team due to a skin infection and was being referred as a spent force by experts, said he will make his critics eat their words through his performances.

“I am going to silence the people who are talking against me by making a successful international return,” Shoaib said in an interview.

However, another such interview can put his comeback ambitions in jeopardy. Shoaib recently told a television channel that he seriously considered suing the national team management for revealing the details of his skin problem.

Sources in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) say that being a centrally-contracted player, Shoaib cannot give any statements against the board or the national team management.

According to the sources, Shoaibs latest outburst will be reviewed by PCB chairman Ijaz Butt, who returned home from Sri Lanka Friday.

There is a possibility that the board might decide to take action against Shoaib, said a source.