Umar Akmal’s three-year cricket ban shortened

The three-year ban handed to Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal for failing to report approaches by corrupt elements has been reduced to 18 months.

According to the Pakistan Cricket Board, Umar Akmal had violated the Article 2.4.4 of the PCB’s code of conduct on two occasions.

In a TV interview, the Quetta Gladiators batsman himself disclosed said that he was offered $200,000 by fixers to leave two deliveries in one of the matches. He also claimed that he was offered money to skip matches against India.

The batsman also said that he was approached during ICC World Cup, including the 2015 edition played in Australia and New Zealand.

The Lahore-based player had failed to mention if he had reported this to the anti-corruption unit or not.

Responding to the decision on his appeal, Umar Akmal said: “Thanks to Almighty for the decision in my favor. Legal team will work on the decision and will try to minimize ban more than eighteen months. There were similar cases earlier who faced less ban as compared to mine.”