KARACHI: Pakistan batsman/wicket-keeper Umar Akmal suffered an epileptic fit during a flight to Jamaica and spent a night in a hospital before being rushed home, a relative said on Sunday.

“We are told that Umar suffered a seizure [epileptic related problem] on the flight to Jamaica and was rushed to a hospital where he spent a night before being rushed back to Pakistan,” the relative said.

Umar had been playing for Barbados Tridents in the ongoing Caribbean League after Pakistan’s recent tour to the West Indies.

“Umar’s physio was with him who took him to the hospital. The same official will be travelling with him to Dubai as a precaution,” added the relative.

Doctors in the West Indies have ruled Umar out of any danger, the family said.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Saturday pulled the 23-year-old from the squad to tour Zimbabwe and replaced him with wicket-keeper/batsman Sarfraz Ahmed.

Umar was selected for the Twenty20 and one-day legs of the tour.

Pakistan plays the first of two Twenty20 matches in Harare on Aug 23 before playing three one-day and two Tests on the tour.

The PCB said on Saturday that Umar had been called back from the West Indies for fitness problems. Local media had initially reported that Umar was suffering from a back problem.

“Umar has immediately been called back,” a PCB statement said. “He will undergo a complete medical examination to reassess the level of his fitness, meanwhile the national selection committee has proposed the name of Sarfraz as his replacement for Pakistan one-day and T20 squads for the upcoming tour of Zimbabwe.”—AFP