Lahore, Oct 11 : Pakistan’s controversial fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar is likely to be given yet another lease of life, but not without some punishment.

It has been learnt through a highly placed source in the Pakistan Cricket Board that he would be in action sooner, than later, but he won't be given a clean chit.

Shoaib was involved in a brawl with Mohammad Asif in South Africa just before the Twenty20 World Cup and was sent back by the team management with a five-match ban, but the PCB treated the ban as indefinite.

The PCB constituted a three-man committee headed by its Chief Operating Officer Shafqat Naghmi, Director Operations Zakir Khan and Director HR Naveed Cheema.

The committee, after deliberations and going through all the evidence and statements of the parties involved, is to announce its decision on Thursday.

It was also learnt that there were clear instructions from the chief patron President General Pervez Musharraf to take a decision on merit.

A highly placed source in the board said that Akhtar's area of trespassing has grown very vast and the committee was going to set an example out of him.

Akhtar was earlier charged with breach of five conducts and on the first day of hearing and made a plea that the disciplinary action should also be taken against the all-rounder (Afridi).

The committee after hearing all the sides, it was learnt has decided to give another lease of life to Akhtar.

To set an example, he would be fined heavily and banned for a couple of matches that might include the five one-day internationals against the visiting South Africans and three Test matches of the India series.

But he would be back in action for the five One-dayers against the archrivals and would play in a probation period, The Nation quoted sources, as saying. (ANI)