February 09, 2008	Saturday	Safar 01, 1429

LAHORE, Feb 8: Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar said on Friday that he will play in the Pentangular Cup for his region Islamabad and not to prove match-fitness to anyone or to get central contract.

Talking to reporters here on Friday, Shoaib who will lead Islamabad in the Cup starting from Sunday, said he was fit for the game and he did not believe that playing in a tournament was the perfect platform to prove one’s fitness.

“I will be bowling at Gaddafi Stadium and the PCB officials should step out of their rooms to see my worth on the ground,” said Shoaib with a wry smile on his face.

The PCB has asked the world’s fastest bowler, nicknamed the Rawalpindi Express, to play at least two matches of the Pentangular Cup to prove his fitness and to qualify for the ‘A’ category of the central contract.

Shoaib will be leading Islamabad against Punjab which will be led by Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik in the opening match of the Cup at the Gaddafi Stadium.

Shoaib said that he was not responsible for Pakistan’s defeat in India late last year as he did not receive enough support from the other end to impose pressure on the rivals.

“I had no effective bowler with me in India to help me from the other end, an advantage Australia’s Brett Lee enjoys from Clarke and Johnson,” he said. Shoaib’s two key fast bowling partners — Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul — missed the Indian tour due to fitness problems.

He said the PCB had no clear criteria for assessing bowlers’ fitness and nobody checked up his match-fitness while including him in the last one-dayer of home series against South Africa. “When I myself declared availability for the Zimbabwe series, the PCB gave no response to me on that.”

“I am happy that I will be leading my region Islamabad, though I was not consulted by the PCB before giving me the captaincy of the region,” he said. “I only came to know about the PCB’s decision through a TV channel report.”