Put Him on the IR

As a serious sports fan myself, I always claw and search for the newest, craziest, and strangest sports stories around. And believe me, there have been a lot of them.

Yet this one may still top the list.

The IR is a funny place. For those who don’t know, IR stands for “injured reserve.” Players go to this bad place (comparable to hell?), when they are struct with an injury that will prevent them from playing at their max potential.

Sometimes these excuses to go on the IR are just plain horrible. This is especially evident with stars who wish to take a day off on a terrible team during the end of the season.

Then there is this guy.

A star of the Pakistan National Cricket team has officially been benched (or placed on the IR) for a case of the crotch rot. Genital warts to be more specific.

The Pakistan Cricket board has classified the condition as an “injury” and will force the player to sit in the next tournament.

Here’s the official statement from the PCB: “The medical board has reported that Shoaib Akhtar was suffering from genital viral warts and the wound needs further care and treatment for another 10 days.”

I couldn’t make this up, nor would I want to.

Thanks to the National Pakistan board for bringing this to our attention.