Fitness concerns continued to plague fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar on Wednesday, with Pakistan's coach saying he would decide within 24 hours whether to pull him from the World Twenty20 team. The 33-year-old skipped the squad's conditioning camp for next month's World Twenty20 to be held in England and will not be playing in any of the three practice matches which began in Lahore on Wednesday.
Groin injuries which have not yet healed kept him off the pitch, coach Intikhab Alam told AFP. "We have to assess Akhtar's medical reports on Thursday and I will end this anxiety of whether he will go with the team or not tomorrow," Alam said. Akhtar managed just four Twenty20 matches last year due to fitness and discipline problems.
He was dropped from the team after he managed to get just one wicket in the two one-day internationals against Sri Lanka in February. He then had to be pulled out of Pakistan's two-Test series against Sri Lanka, but was included in Pakistan's squad for their five-match one-day and a Twenty20 match series in the United Arab Emirates this month.
Akhtar took three wickets in four one-day matches but did not complete his allotted 10 overs in any of the matches. He only bowled two overs in the Twenty20 match against Australia, conceding 18 runs.
The mercurial paceman was also included in the inaugural World Twenty20 squad held in South Africa in 2007 but was expelled two days before the event on disciplinary action for assaulting team-mate Mohammad Asif with a bat. Despite his problems, Akhtar was named in the 15-man squad for the 12-team World Twenty20 event starting from June 5. Pakistan are placed in Group B alongside hosts England and the Netherlands.
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