He was banned by the Pakistan Cricket Board for eighteen months for not disclosing offers related to spot fixing until August 2021.

[3][4] In April 2020, the PCB banned him from cricket for three years, after he pled guilty to failing to report corrupt approaches.

[8][9] In February 2021, the CAS reduced the ban to 12 months and imposed a PKR 4.25 million (27,000 USD) fine on Akmal.

[10] In July 2021, Akmal apologised for not reporting corrupt approaches last year, which led to him being banned for 12 months.

[11] He then left Pakistan to sign a short-term contract with the Northern California Cricket Association in the United States.

After his success at the U-19 level he earned himself a first-class contract and played the 2007–08 season of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, representing the Sui Northern Gas team.

These performances made him gather considerable praise from the media who were there to witness him and calls began to grow about his inclusion in the ODI series for the main Pakistan side against Sri Lanka.

The innings was noted as special due to Pakistan's tough position in the match and the hundred partnership which Akmal was involved in alongside his elder brother Kamran.

[29] In only his second Test match he was moved up the order to the crucial spot of number 3, where he struggled initially but managed to counter-attack making 46 runs before he was undone by an inswinger by Daryl Tuffey.

[31] He had his first failure in the first innings of the third Test at Napier where he was caught in the gully for a duck but scored a rearguard 77 in the second, promoting him to the leading run scorer of the series.

After not playing in the first ODI, Akmal made his debut in the second match of the series replacing Mohammad Yousuf in the middle order.

[38] His next big innings came in the semi-final against New Zealand, where he scored a brisk 55 in a losing effort, before he was wrongly given out by umpire Simon Taufel, who later apologized.

[39] Despite the fact that Akmal is not a wicket-keeper he kept wicket for Pakistan temporarily in the third ODI against England in 2010 from the 27th over onwards because his elder brother Kamran was being diagnosed for an injury to his finger.

The result of choosing the less accomplished glovesman was that in the first two matches Umar Akmal missed opportunities to dismiss Ravi Bopara and Alastair Cook early in their innings, and they respectively went on to score a half-century and a century.

Akmal was initially suspended from Pakistan's T20I series against England for attending a party without PCB permission, but was subsequently cleared of wrongdoing and allowed to go on tour.

[43] Akmal was initially suspended from Pakistan's first T20I against New Zealand due to an incident in the final of the recently concluded Quaid-e-Azam trophy.

He was later recalled and included in the ODI squad for the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy only to fail a fitness test shortly before the tournament.

[49] Akmal was dropped from PCB's list of centrally contracted players on 12 July 2017 due to persistent fitness issues.

Umar was originally part of the Quetta Gladiators squad for the 2020 season, but was removed a day before the tournament after he was suspended by PCB with immediate effect under Article 4.7.1 of its anti-corruption code, disallowing him from taking part in any cricket-related activity under the board's purview, "pending the investigation being carried out by PCB's Anti-Corruption Unit".

While he was playing for the Barbados Tridents, in the Caribbean Premier League, he had to spend a night in hospital after he suffered mild seizures.

Akmal decided not to contest the charge, forgoing his right to a hearing in front of the PCB's Anti-corruption Tribunal, and instead his case went directly to the disciplinary committee, chaired by Retired Justice Fazal-e-Miran Chauhan.

In the final Test match of Pakistan's 2009–10 tour of Australia, Akmal allegedly feigned an injury to protest the dropping of older brother Kamran.

[75] He was later fined 2 million Pakistani rupees and put on probation by the PCB for breaching his contract and speaking to the media without approval.

[citation needed] In Pakistan's semifinal loss against Sri Lanka in the 2012 ICC World Twenty20, Akmal was fined 50% of his match fee.

It was reported that Akmal had attended a party while playing for Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited in their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match against Hyderabad without the PCB's permission.

[81] Local newspaper Daily Kawish Sindhi had reported that some cricketers allegedly were engaging in "immoral activity" at the party.

Later in the day, Khan rebutted the comments in the form of a video shot from his hotel room in which he stated that he was "saddened to hear the remarks Akmal made on television, saying 'I ran away from the team'...

I am dealing with a case of food poisoning and the team management is aware of that... Umar Akmal knew of this..."[84] On 16 August 2017, about one month after losing his central contract due to persistent fitness issues, Akmal held an impromptu press conference in which he criticized then Pakistan national team coach Mickey Arthur.

In a separate statement to the media, Arthur confirmed that an exchange occurred between himself and Akmal but denied using abusive language, instead saying that "he had to earn the right to use our support staff because he is not a contracted cricketer.

The PCB issued a show-cause notice and asked Akmal to come before anti-corruption unit on 27 June to explain his comments.