Umar Akmal has made some serious allegations against Mickey Arthur

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal has asked the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to launch an investigation into his allegations against head coach Mickey Arthur.

Akmal was issued a show-cause notice by the PCB after accusing Arthur of verbally abusing him and barring him from using the facilities at the National Cricket Academy.

“He [Arthur] shouldn’t be swearing at me like that, it is like he’s abusing all of Pakistan,” Akmal had said. “You look at any cricket match, and you’ll see he’s swearing at one player or the other. I want to reveal this to the public and to all my fans. I request the chairman [Najam Sethi] to take this issue very seriously. When the head coach is allowed to swear at someone whenever they wish, that is unacceptable. As a Pakistani, I could not stomach it.

“I want to tell them that even when I try to do something good, I am prevented from doing so. When I take pictures with my fans, they, too, tell me to work on my fitness, and I feel they are right. But now I want to rectify this, everything is being snatched away from me. Why do academies exist? They exist to correct our mistakes. Now you should tell me what to do; I am a Pakistan player.”

Responding to the show-cause notice, Akmal urged the board to look into the allegations he made against Arthur, which the 27-year-old insists are completely true.

In the letter he sent to the PCB, Akmal vowed to apologise to Arthur if the board finds him guilty, but added that should the verdict go in his favour, he expects the 49-year-old to do the same.

Akmal wants the PCB to resolve the matter as soon as possible since it is has to do with “respect, dignity and pride of Pakistan and its nation”.