Shoaib barred from domestic Twenty20 tournament

Shoaib Akhtar has been barred from playing in the national Twenty20 tournament by the Pakistan board after they had him replaced in the World Twenty20 squad because he was suffering from a skin infection.

Shoaib had been named captain of the Islamabad Leopards squad two days after he was cut from the Pakistan team. A PCB official, however, said the board had informed the Islamabad Cricket Association (ICA) that Shoaib would be violating his central contract if he played for them despite medical advice advising 10 to 12 days' rest.

"The [Pakistan] board has sent us the medical report and a copy of the central contract, which states that a player playing against medical advice can be fined," Shakil Shaikh, president of the ICA, told Dawn.

Shoaib was initially a part of Pakistan's 15-man squad for the World Twenty20 but he missed the training camp in Bhurban because of a skin infection and was advised 10 days rest by a three-member medical panel appointed by the PCB. The panel's decision prompted the board to replace Akhtar with medium-pacer Rao Iftikhar Anjum.