Shoaib could miss India tour: Report

Frequent injury breakdowns and questionable off-field conduct could come in way of selection of trouble-prone Shoaib Akhtar for the tour of ...

Frequent injury breakdowns and questionable off-field conduct could come in way of selection of trouble-prone Shoaib Akhtar for the tour of India starting next month. Shoaib Akhtar, currently in news for his hamstring injury and alleged nightouts in Australia, has once again rubbed the cricket establishment the wrong way, said a report in local daily The News today.

The speedster, who had to return home midway from the Australian tour because of the injury, should consider himself lucky if he makes it to the touring squad for the next month’s high-profile tour of India, it said.

“The circumstances in which Shoaib has returned home do not augur well for him. Another breakdown due to fitness problems, his failure to come through in Australia as a match winner and question marks over his personal conduct are all issues which are presently being looked at seriously by the authority in the context of the Indian tour,” the report quoted a Pakistan Cricket Board source as saying.

Skipper Inzamam-ul Haq, coach Bob Woolmer and manager Haroon Rashid have already conveyed their “negative feelings” about the fast bowler’s form and conduct to PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan. “They have narrated several instances where Shoaib had insisted on doing his own thing and not going along with the team policy. For example he chose to drive to the practice sessions when the others walked it to the ground,” the source said. “There is every possibility that with Sami and Shabbir Ahmed expected to be fit for the Indian tour, Inzamam and Woolmer might not push for Shoaib’s selection for the Indian tour,” the source said.

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