Shoaib Akhtar has scarcely been able to stay out of the limelight for a day in the lead-up to Pakistan's forthcoming tour of India - and now newspapers have reported that he failed to report to the doctor appointed by the Pakistan Cricket Board to assess his fitness. In the absence of their foreign support staff, who are on holiday, the PCB appointed Meesaq Rizwi, a sports physician, to look into Shoaib's fitness.

Rizwi apparently asked Mohammed Sami, Shabbir Ahmed and Mohammad Khalil, as well as Shoaib, to report for fitness tests. But Shoaib failed to turn up, and this could have spurred the latest reaction of the board. Saleem Altaf, the PCB's new director of cricket operations, has instructed Shoaib to take part in the ongoing Patron's Trophy to prove his fitness.

The News reports that Altaf told Shoaib he had to play for his team, KRL, in the next round of four-day Patron's Trophy matches, which begin on February 14, in order to be eligible for selection for Pakistan's forthcoming tour of India. Shoaib was originally called back from the Australian tour in order to give him time to rest a troublesome hamstring and be fit in time for the Indian series.

On return to Pakistan Shoaib was assessed by Grant Compton, the Pakistan team's physiotherapist, and a two-week rest was prescribed. Following this examination Compton left Pakistan on vacation.

"Compton outlined a rehabilitation programme to Shoaib to recover from his hamstring strain, and then left for South Africa," said a source. "But even before leaving he was working with Shoaib as it was confirmed he had a hamstring problem that needed two-week recovery period. It is in this background that Altaf's directives to Shoaib come as a total surprise. How does he expect Shoaib to resume playing in the next round of Patron's Trophy to prove his fitness when he has been told he required a two-week period to recover from the hamstring?"