Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal scored a golden duck on his debut for Northern California Cricket Association. The right-handed batsman had left Pakistan to feature in league cricket in the USA and signed a short-term contract with Northern California.
Umar had made a return to the game after the completion of his ban for breaching the PCB's anti-corruption code. While the board had helped him follow his rehabilitation program, he wasn’t considered for the selection in the top domestic teams and was asked to play for a second XI side. Due to this, he missed out on being a part of the National T20 tournament.
The right-hander didn’t impress much while playing for the Central Punjab Second XI in the PCB Cricket Associations T20 tournament and managed to score 0, 14, 7, 16 and 29 during the course.
One of his family members said that Umar wasn’t given a “fair treatment” on making a return. “There are a few others who were banned with bigger charges but given unprecedented support to make a comeback. The system was never fair to Umar. There were blatant compromises made to select a few players with poor fitness, but the benchmark was made tighter for him [Umar] to make sure keep him out."