Former Pakistan captain Rameez Raja has backed PCB’s decision to ban Umar Akmal for three years from all cricket, calling the batsman-wicketkeeper a “waste of a talent”, who “officially makes it to the list of idiots.”
On Monday, Akmal was handed a three-year ban by the PCB for failing to report corrupt approaches, with the board having formally charged him with two breaches of their anti-corruption code in March.
Reacting to the news, Raja took to Twitter to support the decision, stating that Pakistan cricket needs to crack the whip on match-fixers, demanding a legislative law on the same that allows those guilty to be put behind bars.
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The 29-year-old Akmal has had a long history of disciplinary issues with the PCB through his decade-long international career, with the latest ban threatening to effectively truncate his playing career. Earlier this month, Akmal had foregone the right to challenge PCB’s charges.
This war seems to be being won by the bad guys, Rambo?
He’s quite high profile, isn’t he?
Do you think jail time would win the war?— Mpumelelo Mbangwa (@mmbangwa) April 27, 2020
Former Zimbabwe fast bowler Mpumelelo Mbangwa, who’s shared the commentary box with Raja on occasion, commented on his tweeting, wondering if jailing guilty players would help solve the problem at a macroscopic level. “This war seems to be being won by the bad guys, Rambo?” Mbangwa said.
Corruption is a widely debated topic in Pakistan – recently, batting great Zaheer Abbas called for the criminalisation of fixing of all kind, stating that “for too long, we have been soft while dealing with corruption cases.” Only last week, tainted ex-cricketer Saleem Malik had publicly admitted guilt in the infamous spot-fixing saga of the late 90s, offering to reveal all information on the scandal, while urging authorities to drop his lifetime ban.
