SHOAIB AKHTAR CRITICISES ZAHEER KHAN FOR HIS FREQUENT UNFITNESS

Shoaib Akhtar criticises Zaheer Khan for his fitness issues – Cricket News Update

Shoaib Akhtar, the former Pakistan pacer, on Thursday, lashed out at the Indian speedster Zaheer Khan, saying that he should understand the requirement of cricket, that ‘weaker bodies’ can’t survive in this game.

Zaheer is ruled out of the much anticipated second Test match between India and England, scheduled to be played on July 29, 2011 at Trent Bridge. The pacer sustained a hamstring injury on the opening day of the first Test played at Lord’s, where he claimed two important wickets of skipper Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook, for 18 in 13.3 overs. He then remained out of the rest of the innings to take rest.

“It's always good to have him in the side because he is our most experienced bowler, especially when it comes to England, he has played a lot of cricket over here for counties and the last time India were here (in 2007) he bowled really well, said Dhoni of Zaheer.

Zaheer’s career is filled with an array of injuries which forced him to miss a considerable part of his cricketing career. The 32-year-old also skipped the India’s tour to Caribbean, which was the team’s first international appearance, following the ICC World Cup 2011, where they were the title winners.

However, Zaheer played India’s lucrative Indian Premier League, which was a long event of 45 days.

Akthar, whose career had also been derailed by injuries said that Zaheer is playing while fighting with his injuries since the last three years, but now he is not physically fit anymore.

In the absence of the left-arm pacer, the visitors lost the first match to the tourists by a big margin of 196 runs. In addition, the Indian team was also hit by another injury case, when Gambhir picked an elbow injury while fielding in 2000th Test match of the history.