From correspondents in West Bengal, India, 01:30 PM IST

Shoaib Akhtar will not be playing his first Indian Premier League (IPL) match as a Kolkata Knight Rider against Bangalore Royal Challengers Thursday at Eden Gardens here due to fitness problem, said team coach John Buchanan.

'Shoaib needs to spend some more days with the team so that he can gel well with all the members. Besides I need to be more sure about his fitness before allowing him play for the team,' Buchanan told IANS Wednesday.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)