Umar Akmal: Pakistan batsman's suspension halved after appeal

Akmal's appeal was heard at the Pakistan Cricket Board headquarters in Lahore

Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal's three-year suspension for failing to report corrupt approaches has been halved to 18 months, following an appeal.

The 30-year-old's ban has been backdated to when he was provisionally suspended in February, and he will now be eligible to play from August 2021.

The suspension was reduced after a hearing by an independent adjudicator.

But Akmal told local media: "I will decide about the remaining sentence and try to get it reduced further."

He added: "For now I am not satisfied, and will consult my lawyers and family how to take this ahead. There are many players before me who made mistakes and just look at what they got and what I got."

The ban was imposed after Akmal confessed to failing to report approaches made before this year's Pakistan Super League Twenty20 tournament.

Independent adjudicator Faqir Muhammad Khokhar, a retired Supreme Court judge, said Akmal's confession left "no room for doubt as to the veracity of the charges".

He added: "The stance taken by the appellant is self-contradictory and not credit-worthy. The case against the appellant stands proved to the hilt."

Akmal, the youngest of three brothers to play for Pakistan at full international level, made his debut as a teenager in 2009, and has played in 16 Tests, 121 one-day internationals and 84 T20 internationals.

He has been in and out of the side in recent years and has had several disciplinary issues, including failing fitness tests and being banned for three matches in 2017 for criticising then coach Mickey Arthur.

However, he was recalled in 2019 after a two-year absence, and last featured in two T20 games against Sri Lanka in October - when he was lbw for a first-ball duck on both occasions.