Reports: Umar Akmal admits meeting a bookie after PCB provides damning evidence

The scourge of match-fixing reared its ugly head once again and it couldn’t have come at the worst possible time for the Pakistan Super League [PSL] when controversial batsman Umar Akmal was suspended by the anti-corruption unit of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Umar Akmal, whose penchant for controversies is well-documented, was suspended by the PCB on Thursday night for breaching the code of conduct and now it has been revealed that Akmal Junior did meet a bookie and failed to report to the PCB.

According to reports published in Geo News, the former young prodigy admitted meeting the bookie after damning evidence was provided against him by the anti-corruption unit of the PCB. On Thursday night, the board had intercepted a call that Umar Akmal had made to the bookies.

Umar Akmal’s calls were being intercepted by the anti-corruption unit since the past 4 days

Senior sports journalist Abdul Majid Bhatti spoke to Geo news anchor Shahzeb Khanzada and said that the cricketing body possessed the records of an intercepted phone call between Akmal and the bookies. According to Bhatti, the anti-corruption cell of the PCB was monitoring the suspicious calls that Umar Akmal was having with the bookies for four full days before finally deciding to take the matter to the chairman Ehsan Mani on Wednesday- the night before the PSL.

Besides Mani, Wasim Khan- the PCB Chief Executive-Moin Khan, the head-coach and the 0wner of Quetta Gladiators, Nadeem Omar, were also present in the meeting.

The anti-corruption unit has also confiscated the cell phone of Umar Akmal. The PCB issued a press release on Thursday where it said that the suspension was “effective immediately under Article 4.7.1 of the PCB Anti-Corruption Code, which means he cannot take part in any cricket-related activity pending the investigation being carried out by PCB.”

This is not the first time that Umar Akmal has landed himself in a controversy. A few days ago, Akmal was at the center of another raging controversy when he removed his shirt and asked ‘Dikhayein, Kaha hai charrbe’ after he failed to pass the fitness test.

Meanwhile, Quetta Gladiators have named Anwar Ali as the replacement for Akmal.