Umar Akmal could face punishment from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for his behaviour after failing a fitness test, with the Pakistan batsman reported to have undressed entirely and exposed himself to the training staff.
New Pakistan head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq has insisted that all players in Pakistani provincial sides undergo regular fitness exams, and Umar is said to have transgressed after failing a skin-fold test. It is reported that he removed all his clothes in frustration at the result, saying, “Where is the fat?” Sanctions could include him missing the Pakistan Cup, a List A competition in which Umar was the leading run-scorer in 2019.
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The part-time wicketkeeper has clashed with the Pakistan management repeatedly during his career, for fitness and other reasons. Umar was axed from Paksitan’s Champions Trophy 2017 squad for failing a fitness test, while on Pakistan’s 2009/10 tour of Australia he was reported to have feigned an injury to protest the dropping of his brother, Kamran Akmal.
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Umar last played for Pakistan in September 2019, earning a T20I recall after an absence of over three years in the shortest format. However, his return was not a happy one, with the right-hander making first-ball ducks in each of his two innings. In his previous international engagement before that, a five-match ODI series against Australia, Umar was fined for breaching team curfew ahead of the final game of the series.
