Woes mount for Shoaib ahead of India tour by AFP

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Player:	Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shoaib Akhtar
Event:	Pakistan in India 2004/05

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DateLine: 9th February 2005

 

Top Pakistani bowler Shoaib Akhtar suffered a new setback in his battle to regain fitness for Pakistan's rapidly approaching tour of India when his trainers left the country.

 

Pakistan's foreign fitness trainer Murray Stevenson, physiotherapist Daryn Lifson and national academy physio Grant Compton left for South Africa on a private visit just 16 days before Pakistan travel across the border.

 

The team's English coach Bob Woolmer also departed for South Africa for a knee operation, Pakistan Cricket Board officials said on Wednesday.

 

"I am trying my level best to get fully fit but I am without a trainer," Akhtar admitted. He did not elaborate because he is forbiden from giving press statements pending Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) investigations against him.

 

Akhtar, who took eleven wickets in the first two Tests, injured his hamstring twice on Pakistan's tour of Australia and had to return home midway through a tri-series one-day tournament last month.

 

However the 29-year-old also faces disciplinary action which may bar his travel to India, where Pakistan will play three Tests and five one-day games from February 25 in their first full tour.

 

Akhtar's reported visits to a disco and pictures with girls which appeared in the media during the recent tour of Australia, his delayed return home and his starting rehabilitation work with a private trainer prompted the PCB to set up a three-member inquiry committee.

 

"Pakistan would definitely need a fully fit Akhtar for the India tour because you can't beat India with spinners," former Pakistan captain Imran Khan told AFP.

 

"You need pace bowlers who can get a batting power like India out twice in a Test," he said.

 

"There is no doubt that Akhtar is not an easy player to handle, but if you make him a scapegoat every time the team loses, you will demotivate him," added Khan, who led Pakistan to 1992 cricket world cup victory.

 

The committee may release its findings on Thursday, PCB sources said.

 

"Akhtar has submitted his explanation and the three-member committee will look into his answers before we decide what action should be taken," said PCB spokesman Abbas Zaidi.

 

Captain Inzamam-ul Haq and coach Woolmer have strongly denied reports they don't want Akhtar for the India tour.

 

"Absolute rubbish to say the least," Woolmer told AFP before his departure on Tuesday.

 

"What we need from Akhtar is to be fully committed, 100 percent fit, wanting to take the new ball, wanting to take the old ball, wanting to bowl the sides out in both the innings all the time.

 

"That's what we need from any bowler. If you look at Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath, you can't get the ball out of their hands. When a bowler can't do that, its a problem for the team because it leaves you with ten men," Woolmer said.

 

"Akhtar bowled well in the first two Tests but in the first innings. He was unable to come back, which meant his levels of fitness were lower than needed."

 

Woolmer added: "I won't say he deliberately let down the team but it's the fact that he is the strike bowler and we need to look at how he performs for Pakistan."

(Article: Copyright © 2005 AFP)