Shoaib likely to miss Sri Lanka tour

Shoaib Akhtar is likely to miss Pakistan's tour of Sri Lanka in March, owing to a stress fracture in his left ankle, the Pakistan board have confirmed. Shoaib was recently ruled out of the ongoing one-day series against India and may need to gear up for a few months on the sidelines.

"A final assessment is set to be made, after consultation with an orthopedic surgeon, later today," Saleem Altaf, the PCB, director operation, told Cricinfo. "The board doctor, Sohail Saleem, told us today that he is suffering from a stress fracture in his left ankle but we'll get a clear picture only by evening."

Shoaib has been carrying the injury since the third Test against England at Lahore and there was some doubt whether he would take part in the Karachi Test against India. The uncertainty continued during the one-day series - especially with Inzamam-ul-Haq confident that Shoaib would play before the games at Rawalpindi and Lahore - but it was finally confirmed that he would be forced to skip the entire series.

Fitness concerns have plagued Shoaib's career but his sterling performances against England, when he picked up 17 wickets in three Tests, appeared to have heralded a revival. He got through all three Tests against India but six Tests on the trot for the first time in his career finally took a toll.