LAHORE, Sept 30: Controversial pacer Shoaib Akhtar will be considered for the four-nation Twenty20 tournament in Canada, to be held from Oct 10-13.

Although the squad for the said event is likely to be announced on Oct 7, the passports of the 22 probables have already been sent to the Canadian High Commission for visas.

Dawn was informed by a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official that Shoaib’s passport was yet to be received since he was playing for Surrey in England and it could only be sent to the High Commission after his return.

Meanwhile, national selectors will watch Shoaib’s performance during the national Twenty20 tournament, to be held in Lahore from Oct 4-8.

AP adds: The selectors are also waiting to see if they can choose Shoaib.

The PCB has sought a ruling from the Lahore High Court on whether Shoaib can play in, or for, Pakistan without having paid an outstanding fine of 7 million Pakistan rupees ($89,514) imposed by the PCB for the paceman’s disciplinary breaches and public criticism of the board.

“We have not yet been officially informed about Shoaib’s status, but if the PCB asks us to consider him, he will surely be in the reckoning for the tournament in Toronto,” Salahuddin stated.

The PCB has allowed Shoaib to compete in the domestic Twenty20 tournament as the board did not want to mix legal and cricketing issues surrounding the paceman.

“We don’t want to mix legal and cricketing issues and Shoaib can play in the Twenty20 tournament from Oct 4,” PCB’s Chief Operating Officer Shafqat Naghmi said.

The selectors will also consider bringing batsman Mohammad Yousuf back from Twenty20 exile for next month’s Twenty20 tournament in Canada.

“He is a world-class player and definitely he will be considered,” chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed said.

Pakistan, Canada, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka will compete in Toronto, Canada Oct 10-13 Twenty20 tournament.

The Pakistan squad will be finalised during the national Twenty20 tournament in Lahore from Oct 4 to 8, with Yousuf leading the Lahore Lions in the 13-team competition.

Yousuf is regarded as one of the world’s leading one-day batsmen, but has played only one international Twenty20 match. He was dropped from the Pakistan team that played in the final of last year’s inaugural World Twenty20 tournament in South Africa.

Earlier this month, Yousuf criticised Pakistan’s selectors and even warned that Pakistan would suffer if the selectors left him out of the Toronto squad.

While Yousuf may be selected, Pakistan will be without paceman Mohammad Asif, who has appealed at the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) tribunal after testing positive for the banned steroid nandrolone while representing Delhi Daredevils earlier this year. His hearing will be held in New Delhi on Oct 11, clashing with the Toronto event.