Shoaib to resume bowling soon

Shoaib Akhtar is likely to start bowling again, possibly this week, the first time he will do so following the surgery he underwent on his knee injury, in Australia.

Writing in his column for BigStarcricket.com on April 2, Shoaib revealed, "I'm pleased to say that since my knee surgery, everything has been going well and I will be bowling again after another week. I won't be charging in off like my usual run-up straight away, as I need to build up gradually. I don't know how long it will take but I know it won't be long. I just have to be patient."

Shoaib added that he had been doing extensive gym work since the surgery. "I'm feeling strong as I've been doing gym work five to six days a week, not every day as the body needs a day or two to recover from all the workouts. I don't want to overdo it."

If everything goes according to schedule, he aims to regain full fitness by the end of April. "That would mean that I would be in peak condition by the time the England tour comes around, which has always been my main target."

There have been reports in the local press that Shoaib has not been following the rehabilitation programme devised by the PCB following his surgery and that he has missed considerable training over the last week. Although he didn't answer the charge directly, he disclosed that he has been in constant touch with Dr David Young, the surgeon who operated on him in Melbourne last month.

"He is pretty pleased with the way things are going with my recovery so that's another plus point. Nobody knows my body better than him after he scanned me all over so it's good to hear him being confident about my fitness."

Shoaib's knee injury was thought originally to be a potentially career-ending one and it came on the back of an ankle injury that plagued him through the India series and ruled him out of the ODI series.