Daily Times

LAHORE: Pakistan middle-order batsman Umar Akmal had another run-in with law enforcement agencies on Thursday. The 26-year-old was heading to the National Cricket Academy when he was stopped by the officers of Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control Department as part of their drive to weed out illegal number plates. Instead of admitting his mistake and promising to atone, Akmal unleashed his famous temper, resulting in yet another tiff in his controversy-ridden career. “Police stopped me and used foul language and they told me I would have to remove the number plate myself,” he later told reporters. The Lahore Qalandar cricketer has had previous incidents of indiscipline as well. He was jailed for a day in February 2014 after fighting a traffic warden who stopped him for breaking a traffic signal. Umar was dropped from Pakistan’s one-day squad after the World Cup 2015 on the recommendation of then coach Waqar Younis who labelled him as an undisciplined and a selfish player, though he has since made a comeback. In September last year, when asked about his frequent problems with discipline by a match presenter, Umar said, “Can you please tell me what kind of discipline you are talking about?” The presenter then rephrased her question and asked: “You show lack of discipline in the dressing room and with the team? What do you have to say about it?” Umar didn’t seem quite happy with the inquiry and said: “You are not in our dressing room, so it is better to ask this question from our team management.” He was also accused of fighting with a gate keeper at Gaddafi stadium in Lahore who refused entry to his car in 2014.