Pakistan: The Pakistan Cricket Board has suspended wicket-keeper batsman Umar Akmal with immediate effect for an alleged breach of its Anti-Corruption code, the board said in a statement on Thursday, 20 February.
The statement didn’t reveal the details behind the suspension, but said Akmal was charged under Article 4.7.1 of the PCB Anti-Corruption Code, under which the PCB can “in circumstances where it considers that the integrity of the sport could otherwise be seriously undermined, to Provisionally Suspend the Participant pending the Anti-Corruption Tribunal’s determination of whether he/she has committed an offence.”
Akmal will therefore be disallowed from taking part in any cricket-related activity under the PCB, “pending the investigation being carried out by PCB’s Anti-Corruption Unit”.
This means Akmal will not play PSL 2020, and Quetta Gladiators, the defending champions, will be allowed to seek a replacement for Akmal.
Akmal, earlier this month, was reprimanded by the PCB after “an incident” with a staff member at Pakistan’s National Cricket Academy in Lahore after failing a fitness test. PCB said he had since “offered his regrets” and was “reminded him of his responsibilities as a senior cricketer”.