Akhtar devastated at reports of liposuction

Karachi, Dec 20: Controversial fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar is devastated after reading the reports that he underwent a liposuction recently to remove excess weight from his body and said he is fully fit to be considered for national duty in Pakistan’s one-day series in Australia. “I was devastated at reading reports in the media that I had had liposuction surgery in Islamabad. Everybody is talking about it but nothing has happened,” Akhtar said, adding that he had a knee-surgery in mid-October. “I don’t need liposuction. I’m not fat, I’m a fit guy. I can reduce my weight by running. These claims have shocked my world. But I am a strong man and what people say about me just motivates me more,” he said in an interview with Australian newspaper Sydney Morning Herald. Last month, Akhtar’s doctor Tauseef Razaq was quoted by Pakistani newspapers as saying that he had advised the paceman against liposuction. Akhtar said he has a friend who is a plastic surgeon in Islamabad but insisted he has never gone for liposuction. “I visit this man as a friend. I go to his clinic now and then, and now it’s the story of the world. The truth is I am running and bowling. I am getting fit again,” he said. He is hoping to be picked for Pakistan’s one-day series against Australia starting on January 22. “I am trying my level best to get fit for the one-dayers. I’d love to play again in Australia, it’s my favourite part of the world in terms of playing,” Akhtar said. (PTI)