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New Delhi, Jun 14: Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has received a big respite after Appellate tribunal reduced the ban levied on him from 5 years to 18 months.

Talking to media persons on June 8 after the hearing was deferred till June 14, Appellate tribunal head Justice Aftab Farrukh reportedly said that "bread and butter" was one of the main factors in this case.

He said that with repeated adjournments of the hearing, he wanted the plea to be disposed off at the earliest so that he gets time to appear as a lawyer in other cases handled by him in different courts of law.

"If all goes well after the June 14 hearing, I may announce the decision in the next three to five days. But in order to do that, I have to spare time from the cases I am contesting as a lawyer in different courts since my bread and butter also depends on it," the Dawn quoted him as saying.

On a question that just like him being concerned about his bread and butter, a player's bread and butter was also in being able to play and would the tribunal consider this factor in Shoaib's case, the Justice said: "It is the main point to think about here."

"It is for this very same 'bread and butter' factor that the tribunal has allowed Shoaib to go and play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for which we have had to stop the proceedings for almost five weeks," he said.

Talking to the media after the fourth hearing of the case at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), he said the next date might be the last hearing, provided Haseeb Ahsan, another member of the tribunal, who could not attend the meeting on Sunday due to bad health, would not need any further query from both the parties.