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Shoaib called back by PCB after a physical row with Asif

Related Links : Twenty20 World Championship 2007 : Shoaib Akhtar : Mohammad Asif

Shoaib Akhtar’s career at the International level has received yet another setback after his row with fellow fast bowler Mohammad Asif after practice in Centurion. The Pakistan Cricket Board has reacted quickly by withdrawing Shoaib Akhtar’s name from the team for the Twenty20 World Championship. According to reports, Shoaib Akhtar took a bat and smashed Mohammad Asif on his thigh which was followed with abusive language.

Asif has a bruised thigh which isn’t serious enough to rule him out of Pakistan’s match against Scotland next week. It is not clear on what the reason was for Shoaib Akhtar to forget that he was an international cricketer representing his nation and behaving like a bully. Shoaib has apologised to everyone regarding the incident to a private television channel. Shoaib has been handed a five-match ban by the Pakistan Team Management. He is likely to be replaced by Mohammad Sami but that is subjected to the ICC’s approval.

It is not the first time that Shoaib Akhtar has been involved in controversies. Just before the team had left to South Africa, the fast bowler was levied with disciplinary charges for leaving the team’s training camp without informing the concerned authorities. The charges were dropped slightly by the PCB with some reports in the media suggesting that the board had taken it easy after Shoaib had threatened to join the Indian Cricket League. Shoaib had his career was almost finished last season after he was banned for two years following the presence of a banned substance in his body. He was called back from the team in India during the Champions Trophy along with Mohammad Asif. But both the fast bowlers luckily escaped their bans thanks to a U-turn from the PCB. Both these fast bowlers had also missed the World Cup because of injuries. One man who would be worried at the turn of events would be former Australian fast bowler Geoff Lawson as the Twenty20 Championship is just his first assignment as Pakistan’s Coach! Pakistan as such has lost Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Razzaq to the Indian Cricket League and now the misbehaviour from Shoaib Akhtar just shows that everything is not going good for the Pakistan Cricket Team.