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Pakistan’s pace star Shoaib Akhtar on Friday visited an orphanage in the adjacent city of Chandigarh and played cricket with the children there.

A Pakistan team official told ‘The News’ that Shoaib chose to make the visit to the orphanage on what was a sort of a rest day for Pakistan after their thrilling four-wicket win over India in the second one-dayer here on Thursday. Most of his teammates carried out a physical training session at their hotel gym.

“Shoaib went to a local orphanage to be with the children on Diwali day and spent his time playing cricket with the kids who were really excited at seeing the cricketer,” said the team spokesman.

Shoaib, 33, dubbed as the bad boy of Pakistan cricket, returned from an international ban last month just days before the start of the tour of India. After having spent the last several months out of cricket either due o injury or suspension, Shoaib is now trying to put his international career back on track.

According to team officials he is now working harder in training sessions and has also improved his behaviour off the field. However, Shoaib who is ‘one act of indiscipline away from a life ban’ was in the limelight for all the wrong reasons at the start of this tour earlier this month when Indian newspapers and channels played up the pacer’s visits to some nightclubs and discos in New Delhi during the team’s stay in the Indian capital last week.

However PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf has defended the fast bowler and said that the Indian media is targeting Shoaib in attempt to ‘scandalise’ him. “Shoaib has been a role model for his teammates on this tour,” Ashraf was quoted as saying recently.

Source:Cricket News