 Shoaib Akhtar has played no sustained cricket since 2005 |
Pakistan's star pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar, 31, will not be fit enough to play in the Afro-Asia one-day series in June, taking place in India. The Asian Cricket Council selector Mohsin Khan said Shoaib had not made a complete recovery from his knee injury.
Shoaib has been restricted to just one Test and four one-day international appearances in the last 14 months.
Mohsin said: "After a lot of consideration we felt Shoaib still needs time to regain match fitness."
The series between representative sides from the two continents is being played in Bangalore and Chennai starting from 6 June.
Shoaib has struggled with fitness problems since appearing in the Karachi Test against India in February 2006.
He had opted out of the Afro-Asia Cup citing family commitments but than made himself available saying he had made a satisfactory recovery from injury.
Last Sunday, Pakistan took an unassailable 2-0 lead over Sri Lanka in their one-day international series after a 98-run win in Abu Dhabi.