Pakistan’s departure for their New Zealand tour late Saturday night was hit by a one-match ban against swashbuckling batsman Umar Akmal, who was punished for violating the dress code in a domestic match earlier this week.
Team manager Intikhab Alam said Umar would not be available for the first of three Twenty20 matches in Auckland on January 15.
“Pakistan Cricket Board has informed us that Umar has been banned on violating dress code during the final of the Quaid-e-Azam trophy and will not be playing Friday’s Twenty20 in Auckland,” Alam told AFP.
The 23-year-old, playing for the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited, was found to have committed a level one offence by sporting two logos instead of the allowed one on his kit.
PCB match referee Anwar Khan warned Umar but he did not remove the extra logo after which Khan slapped him with a one-match ban.
He was also warned in two earlier matches in the Trophy.
“As per the PCB rules the ban applies to the next first game, whether it’s a national level game or international one, so Umar will not be played in the first match,” said Alam.
Umar is part of the Twenty20 squad only and will fly back after the third match on January 22.
He was not selected for the three-match one-day series against New Zealand which follows the Twenty20s.
Umar was initially dropped from the squad selected for the three-match Twenty20 side against England in November last year for allegedly misbehaving with women at a dance party.
However he was later included in the squad after getting clearance from the police.
The talented batsman’s career has been chequered with discipline problems. He was dropped from the one-day side after the 2015 World Cup on coach Waqar Younis’s report.
