Umar Akmal's appeal against his three-year ban to be heard on July 13
The Pakistan Cricket Board has announced that Umar Akmal's appeal against the three-year ban imposed on him for failing to report corrupt approaches will be heard by former Supreme Court judge Justice (retd) Faqir Muhammad Khokhar on July 13.
Akmal was banned from all forms of cricket after he failed to report fixing approaches ahead of this year's edition of the Pakistan Super League. He was immediately separated from his franchise, Quetta Gladiators, and couldn't feature in a single game.
Umar Akmal's hearing was postponed due to COVID-19
Umar Akmal's hearing was previously scheduled for June 11 but was deferred due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. It will soon be held at the National High Performance Centre in Lahore as PCB mentioned in their press release. The statement reads:
"Former Supreme Court judge Mr Justice (retd) Faqir Muhammad Khokhar, in his capacity as an independent adjudicator, will hear Umar Akmal's appeal on 13 July at the National High Performance Centre in Lahore. Notices for the hearing have been issued to Umar Akmal and the PCB. The PCB will make no comment on the matter until Justice Khokhar has announced his decision."
The panel originally found Akmal guilty of breaching Article 2.4.4 of the PCB Anti-Corruption Code in two separate incidents and complained that the Pakistan cricket star was not co-operative.
This is, however, not the first time that Akmal has gotten himself engulfed by a controversy as his career has been marred with a series of scandals both on and off the field.
In 2010, he tried to feign an injury to skip a Test match and was subsequently handed a six-month suspension. In 2017, he got fined for questioning Junaid Khan's absence in a domestic match. He was also dropped after failing a fitness test before the 2017 Champions Trophy that Pakistan eventually won.
In another incident, Akmal was handed a three-month ban after publicly criticising Mickey Arthur's fitness policies. In early 2020, he faced charges of misconduct after misbehaving with a training official.
Akmal last represented Pakistan in a T20I series against Sri Lanka in the latter half of 2019.