Umar Akmal’s suspension reduced to 18 months

The disciplinary committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board on Wednesday reduced his ban from three years down to 18 months after the player appealed against the ban.

We are “grateful to the independent adjudicator for granting them relief” but that the decision was “not what they had thought [it would be]”, said Akmal’s lawyer Tayyab Rizvi after the decision was announced.

However, he added that “the punishment can be reduced further.” Moreover, Akmal reiterating his lawyer’s views said he would also “try to get the ban reduced further”.

“I am not satisfied with the decision. I will decide on the next step after discussing with my lawyer and family.”

“There have been many cricketers before me that have made mistakes but none of them were given a punishment as severe as mine. I will appeal once more to get my sentence reduced,” he added.

Akmal had appealed against the disciplinary committee’s decision calling an end to his three-year ban in May 20 earlier this year after he was banned on April 17 by the PCB’s disciplinary panel for failing to inform the board after fixers approached him for corruption.

Umar then filed an appeal against the case seeking some laxity in the punishments and reducing his ban. In his appeal, Akmal accepted his mistake and did not contest the allegations as false or unwarranted, however he argued that the three-year ban for such a naive mistake was unreasonable and tried to explain himself in front of the PCB panel.

After the reduction, Akmal’s ban will effectively run from February 2020 to August 2021 which means he will be unable to play the domestic T20 league next year as well.

Umar Akmal has had his fair share of controversies both on and off the field from dancing at parties to abusing team coaches.