Pakistan will allow Shoaib Akhtar to rejoin English county side Durham after the second Test against Bangladesh after all.

Pakistan had second thoughts about releasing the fast bowler after Mohammad Sami was ruled out of the ongoing Test series against Bangladesh with a hairline fracture of the ankle.

But Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Lieutenant-General Tauqir Zia said: "Akhtar will join the English county soon after the second Test."

He said the bowlers' enforced absence would allow the selectors to try out new bowlers in the third Test and one-day internationals.

Durham had released Shoaib under the understanding that he would return to them after the second Test, which ends on Sunday.

Shoaib and Sami have headed Pakistan's new-ball attack since the axing of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis after the World Cup.