Karachi, April 22: The Appellate Tribunal constituted to hear pacer Shoaib Akhtar`s appeal against the five-year ban imposed on him by the Pakistan Cricket Board will start its proceedings from April 28.

Judge Aftab Farrukh, who heads the tribunal, said the start of the proceedings had been delayed because of the prior commitments of one of the tribunal members, Hasib Ahsan a former Test player.

"We will start formal proceedings from 28th and hear out the arguments from Shoaib and the board. We will need two to three days to deliberate and reach a final decision once the arguments are over," he said.

Shoaib filed a fresh and revised appeal before the tribunal on April 21 after his lawyers were provided with the complete documents prepared by the board and its disciplinary committee on the several charges of misconduct.

Shoaib has been stopped from playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) by its organisers because of the ban imposed on him although the PCB says it has no objection to him playing there as the ban only bars him from playing for Pakistan and anywhere in the country.

Sources close to Shoaib say he is confident of getting the ban overturned and the penalty reduced as he believes the defense prepared by his lawyers is very strong.