ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board has suspended batsman Umar Akmal under its anti-corruption code hours before the start of its premier domestic Twenty20 event in Karachi on Thursday.
The PCB did not reveal the exact nature of Akmal’s offense, but said in a statement that “the batsman cannot take part in any cricket-related activity pending the investigation being carried out by the PCB’s Anti-Corruption Unit.”
The suspension means Akmal will not be able to represent Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League as the title defenders will take on Islamabad United in the opening match later on Thursday night.
The PCB said that Quetta could apply for Akmal’s replacement for the fifth edition of the tournament which will be played in its entirety in Pakistan for the first time in four years.
Last week the PCB reprimanded Akmal but did not sanction the batsman for his alleged misbehavior with a staff member after a failed fitness test at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.
He was also sent back home from England in 2017 when he failed a fitness test before the Champions Trophy which Pakistan won.
The 29-year-old Akmal made a century in his debut test against New Zealand in 2009 but has played only 16 test matches since, scoring 1,003 runs with the last test against Zimbabwe in 2011.
In white-ball cricket, Akmal scored 3,194 runs in 121 ODIs and 1,690 runs in 84 Twenty20s.
He was recalled for the three-match Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka at Lahore last year but was out without scoring in the first two games before getting dropped.
Akmal suspended for violating PCB’s anti-corruption code
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Akmal suspended for violating PCB’s anti-corruption code
- Akmal will not be able to represent Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League
- He scored 3,194 runs in 121 ODIs and 1,690 runs in 84 Twenty20s
Suicide bomber kills at least five at wedding in northwest Pakistan
- Attack took place in Dera Ismail Khan, targeting the home of a local peace committee member
- Peace committees are community-based groups that report militant activity to security forces
PESHAWAR: A suicide bomber killed at least five people and wounded 10 others after detonating explosives at a wedding ceremony in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, officials said, in an attack that underscored persistent militant violence in the country’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The blast took place at the home of a local peace committee member in Dera Ismail Khan district, where guests had gathered for a wedding, police and emergency officials said.
Peace committees in the region are informal, community-based groups that work with security forces to report militant activity and maintain order, making their members frequent targets of attacks.
“A blast occurred near Qureshi Moor in Dera Ismail Khan. Authorities have recovered five bodies and shifted 10 injured to hospital,” said Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for the provincial Rescue 1122 emergency service, adding that the rescue operation was ongoing.
Police said the attacker blew himself up inside the house during the ceremony and that the bomber’s head had been recovered, confirming it was a suicide attack.
Several members of the local peace committee were present at the time, raising fears the toll could rise.
District Police Officer Sajjad Ahmed Sahibzada said authorities had launched an investigation into the incident, while security forces sealed off the area.
Militant attacks have surged in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the Taliban returned to power in neighboring
Afghanistan in 2021, with the administration in Islamabad blaming the Afghan government for “facilitating” cross-border attacks targeting Pakistani civilians and security forces. However, Kabul has repeatedly denied the allegation.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has also seen frequent intelligence-based operations by security forces targeting suspected militants.
No group has immediately claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack.
