PCB says Shoaib report was leaked by the hospital

Islamabad: A medical report of a reputed hospital has established that Shoaib Akhtar was suffering from pain in his lower rib cage which could have restricted him from taking the field in the Rawalpindi decider against India.

A bone scan carried out by a team of nuclear physicians at Lahore’s Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital (Imran Khan is chairman of the board), revealed an injury in the 11th left rib, caused probably due to “persistent stress”.

Shoaib claims to have hurt his wrist as well as back when he fell on his follow-through on Day II of the Test which India went on to win by an innings and 131 runs.

His refusal to bowl on the crucial third day but showing no apparent discomfort while batting led to speculation that he may have feigned the injury.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Cricket Board CEO Rameez Raja clarified that a scan had not been done on Shoaib during the Pindi Test.

“A bone scan was not conducted then to ascertain his position. We still have to see how old his injury is, how bad it was during the Pindi Test. The medical commission has to look into the technicalities of the injury and give their recommendations,” Raja was quoted as saying.

He also said the medical commission had also reviewed video footage of Shoaib’s bowling, fall and batting during the Test and would give their report after taking everything into consideration.

“The idea of having this medical commission is not to condemn any player... We want everything to be crystal clear,” he said.

Board shocked

The PCB, meanwhile, on Friday accused the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital of “leaking” the report even before the inquiry panel could have had a look at it.

Expressing shock over the leak, PCB spokesman Sami-ul Hasan said on Friday that tests were conducted by the four-member medical commission at the hospital only because it “had the best equipment”.

“We had no idea that they would leak the results. No hospital does it,” Hasan said.

The PCB official accused the hospital of resorting to “unethical practice” of leaking the report to the media even before the commission could evaluate it.

State-run PTV went to town citing the report by a team of nuclear physicians of the hospital in its news bulletins on Friday.

The entire report found its way on the front page of a vernacular daily Jung complete with the hospital’s logo.

Hospital officials, in turn, have blamed Shoaib’s brother Shahid for leaking the report to the media.

Shahid was quoted as saying by local daily The News that he had released the report to the media to prove that his brother was “completely committed” to the Pakistan team.

“I just want to stress that Shoaib is completely committed to the Pakistan team. All the success and fame he enjoys is because of the country and the green blazer. There is no way he can think about deliberately letting the team down at any stage of his career,” Shahid said.