24 April 2004	Saturday	03 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

LAHORE, April 23: A disgruntled Pakistani cricket fan Friday served a legal notice against express pacer Shoaib Akhtar accusing him of faking an injury in the recent Test series against India.

"My client Babar Ali has served a legal notice on Shoaib over pretending injury in the decisive Test against India and over his reported nightclub bashes in India," Babar's lawyer Ansar Mahmood Bajwa said.

The fan demanded 100 million rupees (around US$1.7m) in damages within 15 days, and threatened to take the case to court if damages were not paid. Shoaib, the 28-year-old spearhead of Pakistan's bowling attack, failed to play the third day of the final Test against India on account of back and thumb injuries.

India won the Test and clinched their first ever Test series victory on Pakistani soil. Cricket authorities are questioning the authenticity of his injuries following a wrist x-ray which suggested there was no damage.

"Shoaib pretended injury and let the whole nation down and then rubbed salt on the wounds with his off-field actions," the lawyer alleged. Shoaib, who will feature for Durham county in the English season from next week, has denied faking injury. -AFP