Umar Akmal claims Mickey Arthur verbally abused him in front of Inzamam-ul-Haq

New Delhi: Controversial Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal claimed that coach Mickey Arthur had verbally abused him in front of chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq.

Akmal, 27, also claimed that senior players did not stop the coach when he was being verbally abused.

According to reports in Pakistani media, Arthur told Akmal to play club cricket instead of coming to Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) academy.

“He (Mickey Arthur) told me to play club-level cricket instead of coming to the academy. Arthur was also abusive towards other players,” Daily Pakistan quoted Akmal as saying.

Akmal, then, said that he was dropped from the team after an unjustified warning and threatened the expose the behaviour of the coaching staff to PCB.

But Arthur has denied the allegations, saying  he had only asked the cricketer to improve his skills.

Unluckily for Pakistan cricket, the episode has started a controversy with the PCB issuing a show cause notice to the player.

But the fans have taken their stand already. Here are some of the tweets:

It's worth noting that Akmal was dropped from the Pakistan squad for the Champions Trophy in May this year after he failed two consecutive fitness tests in two months.

He was then replaced by Haris Sohail.

Akmal had also failed fitness test, only player among 31, in April ahead of the West Indies tour.

But this is not the first time he has become the centre of controversy for off the field matters.

In 2014, Akmal was arrested in Lahore following a fight with a traffic warden. He was also involved in a row with security personnel in a theatre auditorium in Faisalabad.