Lahore: Pakistan cricketer Kamran Akmal has come to the defence of brother Umar who has been banned from the sport for three years for breaching the PCB Anti-Corruption Code in two separate incidents.
Citing example of former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq's handling of certain players, Kamran stated the team management should have done more to keep his younger brother out of controversies.
"Off the field activities are nothing new in Pakistan cricket. Team management and captain should know how to deal with such players," Kamran was quoted as saying by a leading Pakistani cricket website.
"Look at the way Inzi bhai (Inzamam) handled Shoaib (Akhtar), Asif and Shahid (Afridi). If the same was done with Umar Akmal, things would have turned out differently," he added.
Akmal was charged with two breaches of Article 2.4.4 of the PCB Anti-Corruption Code in two unrelated incidents on March 17. On April 9, the PCB referred the matter to the Chairman of the Independent Disciplinary Committee after the batsman opted not to request for a hearing before the Anti-Corruption Tribunal.
Chairman of the Independent Disciplinary Panel, Justice (retired) Fazal-e-Miran Chauhan, had earlier submitted his detailed judgement on the case to the Pakistan Cricket Board.
Justice Chauhan had imposed a ban of three years for each of the two charges of violating the PCB Anti-Corruption Code, which was deemed to have come into effect from the date of Umar Akmal's suspension i.e. February 20, 2020.
Both periods of ineligibility will run concurrently, meaning Umar will now become eligible to return to cricket activities on February 19, 2023.
