KARACHI, April 6: Pakistan fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif need more time to recover from the injuries that kept them out of the World Cup, a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official said on Friday.

Shoaib and Asif, who share the new ball for Pakistan, were withdrawn from the World Cup squad after being declared unfit by the board's medical panel.

Pakistan were knocked out of the World Cup in the first round after losing to West Indies and Ireland.

Shoaib has a knee injury and Asif an elbow problem.

“They need at least two more weeks of rest before they are examined again by our medical panel,” Zakir Khan, the PCB’s director of cricket operations, said. “The medical panel will decide when they can resume training.”

Other Pakistani players have already started playing domestic cricket after returning last week from their disappointing World Cup in the Caribbean.

Both Shoaib and Asif had tested positive for a banned steroid last October in out-of-competition tests by the PCB.

They were initially banned but then cleared by an appeals panel of the board in December.

Zakir said Pakistan could play their first international match since the World Cup next month against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi and a final decision would be made next week.—Reuters