'Shoaib to prove fitness for India ODIs'

PCB has said that the strike bowler will have to prove his fitness by playing in first-class cricket.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials have said that strike bowler Shoaib Akhtar will have to prove his fitness for the One Day Internationals (ODIs) in India, by playing in competitive cricket.

The News quoted a senior PCB official as saying, that Shoaib was undergoing treatment for his hamstring injury under the supervision of South African trainer Grant Compton at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore.

"He's under treatment for a grade-one hamstring rupture. But the initial report is that he should be fit in three weeks, though we are not sure. But whenever he is declared fit by our trainer we would want Shoaib to first play in a first-class match to test his fitness before he is made available for the one-day series in India," the paper quoted Director Cricket Operations Saleem Altaf as saying.

He further said that Shoaib took the right decision in not playing in the Test matches, as that would have only aggravated his problem.

"I think Shoaib took the right decision because he has a genuine injury that needs treatment. We want him to be fit in time for the one-dayers but he has to first pass a proper fitness test; we can't rush him back into international cricket. He has to prove his fitness now first for the one-dayers in India," Altaf added.

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