Shoaib Akhtar may hang boots for a while

Karachi, May 22 (PTI): Imran Khan said on Saturday that Shoaib Akhtar should have sued the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for defamation over setting up a medical inquiry after the home series defeat against India.

“Had I been Akhtar’s place I would have sued the PCB for defamation over the medical inquiry,” the former Pakistan skipper said in a meet the press.

Imran said, “They (the PCB) have challenged the integrity of Akhtar. He has every right to sue the PCB for defamation.”

“Shoaib had a medical scan from my hospital but the PCB challenged that and now he has medical reports from Durham and they too proved he was injured,” said Imran.

Shoaib might end up missing the rest of the county season with Durham after it was learnt that his rib cage injury was more serious than anticipated. He also wants to be fully fit before he plays again.

“I have been advised up to two weeks’ rest by the doctors after they had a second bone scan of my injury.

“There is a definite stress fracture in my rib on my lower left side. I will have another examination after the rest period and let us see how it goes,” Shoaib told a local daily from London.

Although Shoaib was unwilling to speculate on his chances of playing for Durham, who are reportedly paying him over eight million rupees for the entire season, sources close to him said that he had already informed the county management that they should start looking for a replacement.

“The very fact that Shoaib himself has told the Durham management about his condition and asked them to look for a replacement does not augur well for his chances of lasting out the season for them,” sources were quoted as saying by the daily.

Shoaib said that although doctors had told him that the healing process of his stress fracture would take place naturally, he was not feeling comfortable as yet.

“The fracture is there and it is worrying me. I now want to be 100 per cent sure it has healed before I start playing again. I will resume playing only after I get clearance after the next examination in two weeks.”