Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal banned for three years for failing to report spot-fixing offers


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Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal has been banned from all forms of cricket for three years for failing to report spot-fixing offers.

Umar, who turns 30 next month, pleaded guilty to not reporting the fixing offers which led to his provisional suspension on February 20 this year.

Umar's ban is effective from February 20, when he was provisionally suspended by the board under its anti-corruption code, which states a player must report being approached to fix games.

The decision was announced by a disciplinary committee after a brief hearing of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Former Pakistan player turned-commentator Ramiz Raja said that Umar deserved to be "behind bars" for what he has done.

"So Umar Akmal officially makes it to the list of idiots," he said on Twitter.

"What a waste of a talent. It’s high time that Pakistan moved towards passing a legislative law against match fixing."

Umar burst onto the scene with a century in his first Test in 2009, but his career has been marred by disciplinary problems, resulting in various bans and fines.

He was arrested in February 2014 after a scuffle with a traffic warden who stopped him for a signal violation.

Umar was also banned for three months after a spat with then Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur in 2017.

Last month he escaped punishment after making rude remarks to a fitness trainer in Lahore.

Umar last represented Pakistan in two Twenty20 internationals against Sri Lanka in Lahore last year, falling to first ball ducks on both occasions.

He has so far played 16 Tests, 121 one-day games and 84 Twenty20s for Pakistan.

Umar's case is the latest of many that has hit Pakistan cricket in the last 20 years, resulting in life bans and fines for several players.

The PSL was hit by a spot-fixing case in 2017 when openers Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif were banned for five years.

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