Currently, the right-hand batter is on a short-term deal with Northern California Cricket Association, but ESPNcricinfo reported, he is “open” to expanding his contract and staying put with the team named California Zalmi in Premier C League.
There is a strong indication on Umar’s front that he may cut his ties completely with Pakistan cricket after a horrible couple of years in what has remained an unfulfilled and controversial career to say the least.
The player’s family, stated the report by ESPNcricinfo, has confirmed that he has left to ply his trade in the USA league cricket circuit, adding that they and the cricketer have felt hard done by the treatment handed out to him by the PCB since the end of his ban for breaching the board’s anti-corruption code last year.
Umar was banned by the PCB regime for three years for not reporting the details of spot-fixing approaches made to him ahead of the 2020 edition of the Pakistan Super League. But while the 31-year-old accepted the board’s charges, he never agreed to the three-year sanction and challenged it legally.
After making an appeal to the PCB arbitrator and then one to the Court of Arbitration of Sports, Umar’s ban was downsized to one and half years and later by another six months, allowing him to resume his playing career within 12 months to the time he was first summoned for undisclosed spot-fixing approaches.
However, even though Umar was allowed to make a comeback domestically, ESPNcricinfo stated, “his comeback wasn’t well-received within the circuit.”
The PCB helped Umar rehabilitate and reintegrate into cricket, but his selection for the first XIs at the senior domestic level was put on “hold”.
Umar was made to play for the Second XI of Central Punjab in PCB’s Cricket Associations T20 tournament, which is a level below even the National T20 Cup. With his expectation to make a comeback straight at the international level not met, Umar felt dejected and made the move to the USA after a string of low scores in the Second XIs T20 competition.
Whether the move will be a long-term one is not yet known, but there is a strong likelihood that Umar has already played his match for Pakistan.
