Umar Akmal – The Controversial Cricketer

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has suspended troubled Pakistan batsman and Quetta Gladiators player Umar Akmal under article 4.7.1 of the PCB Anti-Corruption Code. This means Umar Akmal cannot take part in any cricket-related activities until the PCB Anti Corruption Unit is investigating him.

From exposing in front of trainers to violating section 144 by flying kites, Umar Akmal has been the centre of controversies in the past.

Let’s take an overview of Umar Akmal’s career and controversies.

Umar Akmal & his Career

Umar Akmal was born on May 26, 1990, in Lahore. He is famous for his misbehavior and controversies rather than his performance of the game.

He made his One-Day international debut on August 1, 2009, against Sri Lanka. Umar Akmal has played 121 One-Day International and has scored 3194 runs with an average of 34.34. He has scored 2 centuries and 20 half-centuries with 102 as his highest in ODI cricket.

He made his test debut on November 23, 2009, against New Zealand. In his test career, Umar Akmal has played 16 tests in which he scored 1003 runs with an average of 35.82. He was able to score only 1 century and 6 half-centuries with 129 as his highest in test cricket.

Umar made his T20 international debut on August 12, 2009, against Sri Lanka. He has played 84 T20 internationals and scored 1690 runs with a low average of 26.00. Akmal has scored 8 half-centuries and the highest score of his T20 career was 94.

Umar Akmal also has the shameful achievement of being out at zero for two times continuously in the series against Sri Lanka last year.

Controversies of Umar Akmal

The Right-handed batsman is always in controversies after being part of Pakistan National Team.

Recently, Umar Akmal found himself in trouble again, after he misbehaved with an official of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) during a fitness test. He completely exposed himself in front of the official and said, “Where is the fat?”

In 2016, during the T20 World Cup in India, former captain and the current Prime Minister Imran Khan met with the Pakistani team at the hotel. Umar Akmal complained to PM Imran that the team management was not promoting him to the 3^rd spot in batting order. After this act by Umar Akmal, he faced several criticisms by the team management.

In November 2015, Umar Akmal was detained by the police in Hyderabad after his involvement in an incident that bought disrepute to Pakistan cricket at an event which the police described as a dance party.

Umar Akmal once again made headlines in 2016, after being involved in a brawl with stage drama crew in Faisalabad. 

In 2016, Umar Akmal violated the International Cricket Council’s dress code during a domestic game in Karachi and was slapped with a one-match ban.

In 2014 and 2017, the middle-order batsman was involved in two different incidents for involving in a heated argument with traffic police officers.

In 2017, prior to the ICC Champions trophy, PCB gave showcase notice to Umar Akmal for misbehaving with the team’s head coach Mickey Arthur.

Despite banned in 2019, Umar Akmal violated Section 144 by flying kites at Faisalabad Stadium.

Remarks of Coaches

Former Captain of Pakistan Cricket Team and former coach Waqar Younis in his report wrote negative comments about Umar Akmal and recommended the management to remove him from the national team and give chance to an eligible player to represent the country.

Pakistan team’s batting coach Grant Flower named Umar Akmal the major reason behind the national team’s defeat in the World Cup 2015 and raised questions about his batting.

When former South African coach Mickey Arthur joined Pakistan, his relationship with Umar Akmal remained extremely strained and sends Umar Akmal back home from England after expressing dissatisfaction before the ICC Champions Trophy 2017.

Current Ban on Umar Akmal

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in a press release said that Umar Akmal was suspended under Article 4.7.1 of the PCB Anti Corruption Code, which means he could not participate in any cricket-related activities until investigation was done.

PCB said, “As this is an ongoing investigation, the board will not make any further comments on the issue.”

The article suggests that the PCB decides to charge a Participant with an offence under this Anti-Corruption Code.

Sources said that PCB’s Anti Corruption Unit has received evidence of spot-fixing against Umar Akmal and that’s the reason he was suspended with immediate effect.