Shoaib Akhtar receives treatment on his sore shoulder from team physio Darryn Lifson at the National Stadium in Karachi on Wednesday. (AFP)

Karachi: Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has been ruled out of the second Test against Sri Lanka starting on Thursday because of a shoulder injury. ?The doctors have advised me to rest for two weeks to recover from the problem,? Shoaib said on Wednesday.

?I have acute pain in my right shoulder which is very stiff. I could have played by taking pain killer injections but it is risky and I have decided to take the rest.?

Akhtar?s injury is a big blow to Pakistan, which is trailing 0-1 in the series after losing the first Test by a massive 201 runs in Faisalabad last Sunday. Akhtar?s new ball partner Mohammed Sami was ruled out of the second Test after pulling a groin muscle in Faisalabad.

Pakistan?s two other first choice fast bowlers Shabbir Ahmed (knee operation) and Umar Gul (stress fracture of the back) are already nursing injuries and have been out of international cricket for several months. ?It?s a difficult situation for us. Our three frontline bowlers are already injured and now it?s Shoaib,? captain Inzamam-ul Haq said.

?We will go in with the back-up bowlers Rana Naved and Riaz Afridi,? he confirmed. Naved has played in one-day Internationals only while 19-year-old Afridi is also uncapped. ?There is now pressure on us to level the series and every batsmen will have to score runs,? Inzamam said. Injury to key bowlers has worsened Inzamam?s task of stopping the rampaging Sri Lankans from clinching its third successive series win in Pakistan. ?The situation is not good for us. Our batsmen have to put around 400 runs on board for our bowlers to defend in the first innings,? Inzamam said.

Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralidharan, meanwhile, is recuperating after shoulder surgery, but his absence was little felt in the first Test when Rangana Herath claimed seven wickets in the match. ?We are confident, but the next Test starts from zero,? Sri Lankan captain Maravan Atapattu had said after the victory.

TEAMS

Pakistan (from): Inzamam-ul Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Yasir Hameed, Imran Farhat, Asim Kamal, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Danish Kaneria, Rana Naved-ul Hasan, Riaz Afridi, Zulqarnain Haider.

Sri Lanka (from): Maravan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Thilan Samaraweera, Jehan Mubarak, Ian Daniel, Chaminda Vaas, Upul Chandana, Farveez Mahroof, Dilhara Fernando, Thilina Kandamby, Rangana Herath, Lasith Malinga.