Umar Akmal appeals against three-year ban imposed on him by PCB
Umar Akmal has finally filed an official appeal against the three-year ban slapped on him by the Pakistan Cricket Board for his non-reporting of corrupt approaches. The PCB has now confirmed the receipt of Akmal's appeal and will form an independent adjudicator panel to hear the keeper’s case.
Last month, after PCB handed a three-year ban to Umar Akmal expelled from all representative cricket after he failed to report details of corrupt approaches made to him ahead of this year's PSL, the tainted wicket-keeper finally decided to appeal against the ban. The challenge is basically against the length of the sanction and he hopes to get it reduced by a substantial margin.
As per an ESPNCricinfo report, the PCB confirmed the receipt of Akmal's appeal and will form a panel of independent adjudicators to hear the case. However, there will not be a de novo (fresh) hearing, but instead limit itself to "consideration of whether the decision being appealed was erroneous."
The report further stated that Akmal maintained in his appeal that the three-year ban was unprecedented and that other players committing similar offences had been let off with lesser punishments. He cited the example of Mohammad Irfan, who was banned for six months while Mohammad Nawaz picked up a two-month ban for a similar offence. Recently, Shakib Al Hasan was banned for two years with one year of that sentence suspended.