Pakistan’s wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal, while talking to local media, jumped to the defence of his brother Umar Akmal, after the latter was banned from all cricketing activities for three years by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on corruption charges.

The 38-year-old called the punishment ‘extremely harsh’ while talking about other players who received more lenient punishments on similar offences.

“We are shocked at the three-year ban. The punishment handed to Umar Akmal is extremely harsh but we are waiting for the detailed verdict. There are precedents of much shorter bans on similar violations in the past. We are at a loss to understand why Umar Akmal has been treated differently,” Akmal said.

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The wicketkeeper-batsman claimed that all avenues will be visited in order to seek ‘justice’ in this regard.

“We will definitely exercise our right to appeal and go to every platform to seek justice,” he said.

Earlier, Pakistan middle-order batsman Umar Akmal was banned for three years, from all cricket, by Chairman of the Disciplinary Panel Mr Justice (retired) Fazal-e-Miran Chauhan.

Akmal had not requested for a hearing before the Anti-Corruption Tribunal, after he was charged for two breaches of Article 2.4.4 of the PCB Anti-Corruption Code in two unrelated incidents.

According to Article 6.2, the range of permissible period of ineligibility for those charged and found guilty for a violation of Article 2.4.4 is a minimum of six months and a maximum of a lifetime.

The right-handed batsman was provisionally suspended on February 20, 2020, just before the beginning of Pakistan Super League (PSL) season five.