Oh no, not again. ‘Most talented’ Pakistani cricketer Umar Akmal again in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Umar has received a three-year ban from all forms of the game on corruption charges. He failed to report a fixing offer before the start of the fifth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), a crime under the board's anti-corruption code.

Umar, 30, has played only 16 Tests since his debut in 2009. He has scored 1003 runs at an average of 35.82, with only one hundred and six fifties. He has played 121 One-day Internationals, scoring 3194 runs with two centuries and 20 half-centuries, averaging 34.34.

Umar has the unwanted record of most ducks (24) in T20Is. Herschelle Gibbs, Tillakaratne Dilshan, and Dwayne Smith are behind him with 23 ducks each.

Most of the former cricketers agree that the three years ban is right.

Former Pakistani captain and renowned commentator Ramiz Raja on his Twitter slammed the middle order batsman: "So Umar Akmal officially makes it to the list of idiots! Banned for 3 years. What a waste of a talent! “It’s high time that Pakistan moved towards passing a legislative law against match fixing. Behind bars is where such jack a***s belong! Otherwise brave for more!!"

Former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar said on his YouTube channel the cricketer had always courted controversy since he made his international debut and had only himself to blame for his actions.

"Umar Akmal does something every six months that gets him in trouble. In 8-10 years if Virat Kohli has scored 30-40 centuries and Umar has scored just 3 then it is only his fault. He has ruined his own career," Akhtar said.

New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum, a former Lahore Qalanders captain, also said that Umar had incredible talent but is not utilising his skills as he should.

Numerous opportunities were provided to him but his inconsistency often kept him away from the national team.

He was dropped from the one-day side after the 2015 World Cup on coach Waqar Younis’s report. He recommended that Umar should be made to earn his spot again in the national squad with consistent performances in domestic cricket.

In 2017, Umar and fast bowler Junaid Khan were fined 50 percent of their match fee for misconduct in a Pakistan Cup match.

Umar, who captained Punjab in the tournament, was asked about team changes during the toss in the match against Sindh. He disclosed that Nasir Nawaz had replaced Junaid as he was absent from the ground without informing anybody.

In January 2016, Umar received a ban for one match for violating the dress code in a match of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. PCB match referee Anwar Khan warned Umar for wearing a promotional logo on his kit, but he did not remove the extra logo. He had been warned in two earlier matches in the Trophy but had ignored the warnings.

In November 2015, Umar was dropped from the side for the Twenty20 series against England in the UAE for allegedly misbehaving with women at a dance party.

Umar and former Pakistan under-19 captain Azeem Ghumman found themselves in a police station in Hyderabad after being detained at a party. But he was later included in the squad after police cleared him.

In July 2015, the national selection committee ignored Umar for the one-day series in Sri Lanka after he failed to report for the training camp at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore. He spoke to NCA head coach Muhammad Akram and told him he was coming the next morning but then he didn’t show up. According to reports, Umar was busy playing in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) Twenty20.

All these incidents show what is wrong with Umar Akmal. He has been the bad boy of Pakistan cricket but is not thinking about bringing any change within him.

After all the happenings, Umar complains that media is against him. "I don’t think I have got the support from the media that I deserved. Every little issue I have been involved in has been blown out of proportion and my statements have been misunderstood. In all this, I have been made out to be an in-disciplined player and person," he claims. Some people never learn!

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