LAHORE, March 5: The PCB Medical Commission has finally woken up to issue issue a detailed report about injured fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif on Monday, advising them a further rest of three weeks each.

The report was an essential requirement from the ICC in order to get the approval for the replacement of the injured pacers with Mohammad Sami and Yasir Arafat for the forthcoming World Cup to be held in the West Indies from March 13 to April 28.

Surprisingly, the commission had been completely out of the picture for the last 15 days as Shoaib and Asif saga simmered in national and foreign press while the two fast bowlers visited England, reportedly, for the check up of their knee and elbow injuries respectively.

After getting the permission of replacements from the ICC, Sami is likely to go to the West Indies forthwith as he has cleared the dope test. However, Yasir's departure could be delayed due to his dope test report which is yet to come from Malaysia.

Sami, in fact, had cleared the dope test when the urine samples of 20 players were sent to Malaysia in the first batch. But the sample of Yasir was sent on March 1 when he was selected as replacement for injured Asif.

Sources said the delay in medical commission report was caused by the fact that Shoaib and Asif had failed to get their medical reports from the doctors in England from whom they had been getting the treatment. This also feulled growing speculations regarding the two fast bowlers’ dope-clearance on the nandrolone level which many feel is the real cause behind their withdrawal from the mega event in the Caribbean.

A press release issued late on Monday by the PCB said: “Dr Sohail Saleem (Coordinator, Medical Commission PCB) in consultation with Dr Waqar Farooqi (Orthopedic Surgeon) and Dr Zia Farooqi (Radiologist) has issued the attached report on the injury status of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif. The report has been sent to the ICC along with a request for replacement of these players with Mohammad Sami and Yasir Arafat today.”

Commenting on Shoaib's knee injury the commission stated in its reports that, "Medical Commission examined Shoaib Akhtar on Jan 29, 2007 for his left hamstring injury and advised him 3 weeks of rehabilitation.”

"On examination this afternoon Shoaib had some tenderness over the medial joint line of left knee. Extreme knee extension as well as flexion were painful. Functional test such as hopping on one leg was extremely painful and he had some discomfort in the region of left hamstrings when stressed.”

"In view of above findings we recommend that he should continue with the supervised rehabilitation program. However, he is not allowed to bowl unless he is re-examined by the commission in three weeks time.”

About Asif, the commission stated: "Mohammad Asif complained of pain in his right elbow for the first time during Pakistan team's tour of England in 2006-07 during a side match against England A on July 8, 2007. He was seen by DrYanni, sports orthopedic surgeon and Dr Andrew Wallace, consultant orthopedic surgeon in UK. His ultrasound revealed pathology of postero-lateral capsule and the anconeus muscle. He was injected with cortisone by Dr Yanni.

"On examination this afternoon, we found that he had some tenderness over the lateral attachment of right triceps muscle in the olecranon. The last 10 degrees of flexion as well as extension were restricted because of pain. However, he had full range of supination and pronation.

"MRI revealed some local bone edema and sclerosis in the olecranon at the insertion of triceps. Minimal fluid is present in the joint cavity as well.

"In view of above findings, we recommend Mohammad Asif to give rest to the right elbow for three weeks initially. He was advised not to use his right arm for lifting anything or even driving. However, he may perform activities of daily living," the report concluded.