Pakistan's wicket-keeper batsman Umar Akmal is handed a three-year ban by the Pakistan Cricket Board on account of Pakistan anti-corruption code breach. The breach was Akmal not reporting corrupt activity he was in know of or was involved in ahead of the Pakistan Super League 2020.
Akmal pleaded guilty as he represented himself at the hearing with the panel at National Cricket Academy, Lahore. PCB formally revealed the decision on Monday.
"The PCB does not take any pleasure in seeing a promising young player being declared ineligible for three years on corruption charges, but this is once again a timely reminder to all who think they can get away by breaching the anti-corruption code," said Lt Col Asif Mahmood.
Akmal was temporarily suspended earlier on February 17 after being withdrawn from the PSL.
Pakistan players have a recent history of making the headlines for wrong reasons, such as Mohommad Asif, who both Kevin Pietersen and Hashim Amla thought was the best they faced, getting banned along with Mohammad Amir and Salman Butt in 2009.
It is safe to say that Umar Akmal's international career will pretty much end after this given the facts that the age is not on his side and he was nowhere in Pakistan's future scheme of things prior to the ban.
Umar Akmal has not only tarnished the image of Pakistan cricket and set a poor example for generations to come but also failed to learn from a flurry of similar mistakes that he has committed in the past. Some of them are as follows:
2011- Issued show-cause notice for giving an unauthorised interview to Indian media.
2012 - Fined for ignoring umpires.
2014 - Charged by Lahore police for a traffic violation and misbehaving with the warden.
2015 - Left out of the Pakistan squad, reportedly for bringing Pakistan cricket into disrepute.
2016 - Banned for a T20I for misconduct.
2017 - Left out of the squad on fitness concerns.
2018 - Fined for misbehaving with the coach Mickey Arthur and explaining his comments on a TV show about spot-fixing requests.
2019 - Fined for breaking team curfew.
Alas! Another promising Pakistan talent has been wasted.
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