The Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) former chairman Najam Sethi has said that batsman Umar Akmal needs a psychiatrist’s help in order to overcome his never-ending cycle of problems.
Sethi spoke on a show with 24 News and said that Akmal was given several warnings during his time as well but he refused to clean up his act. Therefore, Sethi felt that the three-year ban was justifiable.
“We had warned Akmal about this and even banned him earlier which is why I think the three-year ban is fair. He always played for himself and not the team,” said Sethi.
“Umar is not disciplined despite being very talented. If he sits down with a psychiatrist and takes medical treatment, he might become more discipline-oriented.”
Furthermore, the former PCB chief recalled having to deal with the troubled batsman during his tenure and said that despite advising him to seek medical help for an epileptic fit he suffered in 2013’s tour of West Indies he refused.
“As soon as I joined PCB, the first big issue I faced was regarding Akmal. He suffered an epileptic fit during the tour of West Indies. When he returned home, I asked him to take a break from cricket and get medical treatment but he refused that and insisted on playing,” he said.
“He had, both, psychological and medical problems. He was asked numerous times to mend his ways but he did not listen and consequently resulted in a controversy after every two or three months.”
