Shoaib is also entangled in a legal battle with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) over repeated breaches of discipline.

Akhtar is currently preparing to respond within the next couple of days to a show cause notice sent by the PCB.

According to sources, Akhtar will send a reply through his lawyer and will ask the board for evidence for the charge of breaking the PCB code of conduct levelled against him. He has time till July 31 to reply to the notice.

Shoaib was accused of violating three clauses of the central contract by giving a television interview in which he claimed that the national team management conspired against him and that he considered suing the authorities for leaking a confidential medical report.

In the notice signed by Zakir Khan, PCB's director of cricket operations, Akhtar has been told that he has breached clauses 4.1, 4.2 and 4.4 of the central contract by giving a television interview.

Akhtar is also fighting a legal case in the Lahore High Court (LHC) against an 18-month ban and a fine of Rs.7 million. The original ban was five years, imposed when Akhtar spoke against the PCB after his omission from the central contract last year.

A PCB appeals committee reduced the ban to 18 months but levied a fine of Rs.7 million. The player challenged that decision in the LHC, which suspended the ban but upheld the fine. He was cleared for national duty by the PCB pending a final decision on his appeal besides awarding him a central contract earlier this year.