Embarrassed over Umar Akmal claims of being offered money to fix India-Pakistan games, the International Cricket Council (ICC) sprung into investigative mode and confronted the Pakistan batsman over several rounds of questioning for further details. The cricket governing body was also unhappy with the manner the issue was handled by the 28-year-old and demanded reasons from Akmal for not reporting the alleged approach by bookies to the ICC’s Anti Corruption Unit (ACU).
Akmal had, during an interview with Pakistan’s SAMAA TV, revealed that he had been offered money to fix games whenever Pakistan played against India. “They offered me $0.2 million to leave two balls in the cricket World Cup. An offer was also made in the 2015 edition of the tournament as well,” he was quoted as saying. “I told them that I am very dedicated to Pakistan and that they should not talk about such things with me,” he added.
Akmal, who was served a show cause notice by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) over failing to report about a match-fixing approach, claimed his innocence and reiterated that he had informed the PCB on several occasions about the offers that were made to him.
Since making his debut, the right-handed wicket-keeper batsman so far has played 16 Tests, 116 ODIs and 82 T20Is for Pakistan and has been at the centre of several controversies and disciplinary issues.