Shoaib never went missing: PCB

Lahore, May 29 (UNI) Confusion continues to prevail on the presence of Shoaib Akhtar in the ongoing training camp for the tour of England with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) now claiming that the speedster was never missing as reported earlier and was working out hard to regain fitness after the long injury layoff.

''He (Shoaib) has been coming to the PCB Academy ground and looks dead serious in his efforts to regain match fitness,'' PCB's Director Board Operations Abbas Zaidi told The News.

Mr Zaidi said team's fitness trainers were quite impressed with the Rawalpindi Express' progress during the recent weeks after his comeback from a career threatning knee injury.

He said the tearaway pacer was very much in contention for the tour of England next month.

''We are confident that Shoaib would prove that he is fit enough to be a part of the England team,'' Zaidi said adding that a final decision on his selection would be taken only after the camp's conclusion.

''He has already lost weight and looks sharp. But we would wait and see how he performs during the camp where he could be bowling up to 18 overs at a stretch,'' Mr Zaidi said.

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