Shoaib Akthar said he made a mistake 'in the heat of the moment" when he hit Mohammad Asif and has apologised to him and his Pakistan team-mates for the dressing-room scuffle that saw him being sent home from South Africa. He vowed to make a comeback and said he was hopeful of playing in next month's home series against South Africa.

"I'm human and made a mistake in the heat of the moment," Shoaib told NDTV, an Indian news channel. "Asif said something to me that made me lose my temper. I apologised to him, but I was very upset."

He asked the media not to paint him as a villain and said, "I'm feeling bad that two minutes of temper have ruined my comeback. Sometime you do things in a fit of temper. I will explain the situation to everyone and apologise. I will address a press conference and apologise for my actions. I will try and make it back for the series against South Africa next month."

He likened the incident to the headbutt by the French footballer, Zinedine Zidane, in the final of the World Cup in Germany last year and said what happened was not intentional.