Umar Akmal, who was handed a three-year ban by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for not reporting a fixing offer, on Tuesday (May 19) appealed against the sanction.

As per a Geo report, PCB will appoint an independent panel to hear the matter. The report also claims that Umar has hired Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs, Babar Awan’s law firm to help him in the case.

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On April 27, Akmal was banned from cricket activities till February 19, 2023. The suspension was imposed by PCB’s disciplinary panel chairman Justice (retired) Fazal-e-Miran Chauhan as he found the cricketer guilty of not reporting corrupt approaches ahead of the Pakistan Super League earlier this year.

The right-handed batsman was suspended hours before his PSL team Quetta Gladiators was to face Islamabad United in the tournament opener in February.

Akmal was charged for two breaches of PCB's anti-corruption code in relation to not disclosing invitations to engage in corrupt activities.

Umar Akmal has featured in 16 Tests, 121 ODIs and 84 T20Is, scoring 1003, 3194 and 1690 runs respectively. He last played for Pakistan in October 2019. 

(With PTI inputs)