Umar Akmal, Pakistan cricket's enfant terrible, faces reckoning

If ever a soap opera were to be made about Pakistan cricket, Umar Akmal might be a good candidate for the role of enfant terrible.

The talented-yet-wayward batsman is scrambling to save his once-promising career, after he was hit with a three-year ban for failing to report match-fixing offers.

Umar is expected to learn the fate of an appeal to last month's disciplinary action on or about May 26, which also happens to be his 30th birthday.

Right now, the signs don't look good.

Umar declined to speak to AFP for this story, but several experts suggested Pakistan's close-knit cricketing world is fed up.

"Umar is not prepared to show remorse and seek apology," the judgement accompanying Umar's ban states.

Ramiz Raja, a former Pakistan captain and a well-known cricket analyst, said he was "pained to see such a talent go waste".

"Cricket cannot condone such behaviour and fans need to realise that rooting for tainted players is actually harming Pakistan cricket and its image," Raja told AFP.

Umar's Test career exploded into life with a century in his 2009 debut in New Zealand, a feat that prompted commentators to describe him a "future star".

But his expanding profile was soon tempered with disciplinary problems. His two brothers -- Kamran and Adnan -- also played for Pakistan but never got into hot water.

Within months of his first international outing, Umar reportedly feigned an injury in a bid to skip a Test in Australia, in protest over Kamran being dropped.

He was fined and placed on a six-month probation.

Even the astute Misbah-ul-Haq -- Pakistan's most successful Test captain -- could not rein in Umar.

Following an irresponsible shot in a 2011 Test in Zimbabwe, he never again selected Umar for the longer format.

The following year, he was fined and reprimanded for an altercation with umpires during the Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka.

He ran into trouble off the field too. In 2014, he was arrested in his native Lahore over a scuffle with a traffic warden.

He has repeatedly grabbed headlines for partying late into the night, ending in yet more fines and reprimands.

- 'Only himself to blame' -
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"He will only have himself to blame and should have taken responsibility for his career instead of always looking to make excuses and blame others."
"I am ready to commit to cricket. I still have a lot of cricket left in me and I aim to make another international comeback."