Karachi, Oct 27: Despite fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar’s dismal performances in the ongoing domestic tournament Pentangular Cup and the Twenty20 event in Toronto earlier this month, the country’s chief selector Saleem Jaffer, himself a former pacer, has exuded confidence in the ‘Rawalpindi Express’ saying he was pushing hard to get back into the team, and that the selectors would give him enough time to regain the lost form.

“As a fast bowler myself, I’m aware that pacers need time on their comeback. Shoaib knows that he has to take little steps on his way back in international cricket. We are willing to give him time and will only sit down for final selection (of the Pakistan squad) after the next Pentangular Cup match,” The News quoted him as saying.

He added: “Shoaib, who is aiming to make his one-day return in Abu Dhabi, is bowling well. He is pushing and trying to do better in every over. He is just lacking on stamina.”

According to the paper, on Sunday Shoaib needed four spells to bowl nine over in a Pentangular Cup match against Sindh here at the National Stadium as national selectors keenly observed his performance along with several other players who are in contention for next month’s one-day series against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi.

Playing for Federal Areas, Shoaib scalped Sindh opener Khalid Latif and ended with figures of 1-25 at stumps.

The next Pentangular Cup match begins from October 31 and Jaffer said that the national selection committee will meet during that game to decide Pakistan’s combination for the series against the West Indies to be played from November 12-16.

“We will announce the 15-man squad by November 3, around five or six days before the team’s departure for Abu Dhabi,” he said. (ANI)