Karachi: Five players who have represented Pakistan are apparently under investigation by the Pakistan Cricket Board on suspicion of involvement in a brawl and disorderly conduct in Faisalabad where they were participating in National One-day Cup matches.
Umar Akmal, Mohammad Nawaz, Bilawal Bhatti, Ovais Zia and Shahid Yousuf landed in trouble after television channels reported that they had gone to watch a dance show or drama performance at a local theatre on Sunday night when they got into a brawl.
Television channels showed brief footage of Umar Akmal arguing with some people at the theatre and than angrily gesturing at them before being led to his car by a fellow player.
Sources said that the brawl broke out when some of the players demanded that a dance-song routine be repeated by the female artists on stage.
Akmal later denied being involved in any brawl or disorderly behaviour at the theatre and advised the media to stop prying into his personal life.
“Talk or write about me or my cricket skills or performances but no one has the right to highlight my personal and social life, it is not fair,” he told reporters in Faisalabad.
The batsman also denied media reports that the board was investigating the incident through its security and vigilance department.
The youngest of the Akmal brothers is no stranger to self-inflicted controversies. Just a few months back, during the premier national first class tournament, he landed in trouble when he went to Hyderabad to play for his departmental side. He then attended a private dance party with some friends and his outing ended with a police raid and subsequent visit to the police station.
But a PCB inquiry subsequently cleared him on the basis of a police report that stated that he was not among those detained at the venue of the dance party. Following that incident, Akmal got into a argument with the coach of his departmental side, Basit Ali, during the final in Karachi.
