Najam Sethi: “He suffered an epileptic fit during the tour of West Indies. When he returned home, I asked him to take a break from cricket and get medical treatment but he refused that and insisted on playing”

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Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi has claimed that batsman Umar Akmal refused treatment after he suffered an epileptic fit during the national team’s tour of the West Indies in 2013.

Sethi’s comments come after Akmal was banned for three years by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for failing to report corrupt approaches ahead of this year’s Pakistan Super League (PSL).

Akmal was recalled from the tour and upon telling him that he had a serious medical problem, Sethi said the 29-year-old “was not willing to accept this. He was mentally not there”.

Sethi decided to stop Akmal from playing for two months, but ultimately let the selectors decide what to do with the middle-order batsman.

“As soon as I joined PCB, the first big issue I faced was regarding Akmal,” Sethi told 24 News as quoted by Geo News. “He suffered an epileptic fit during the tour of West Indies. When he returned home, I asked him to take a break from cricket and get medical treatment but he refused that and insisted on playing.”

Sethi was further quoted by Wisden as saying: “We had medical reports that confirmed he suffered from epilepsy fits and we called him back from the West Indies.

“When I met him, I told him it was a serious problem and he needed to take a break and get proper treatment. But he was not willing to accept this. He was mentally not there.

“Anyway, I stopped him from playing for two months, but later on we sent the medical reports to the selectors and left it to them because I didn’t like to interfere in their work.”

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