KARACHI, (Reuters) – Pakistan wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider quit international cricket yesterday saying he feared for his safety after being ordered to cooperate with match-fixers during the recent one-day series with South Africa.
Zulqarnain, 24, who said he had fled the team hotel before the start of the fifth one-dayer on Monday in Dubai and reached London hours later, told the Geo News channel he felt unable to continue in the Pakistan team after being approached by a person who asked him to fix the fourth and fifth one-dayers.
“I have decided it is best for me to retire from international cricket since my family and I are constantly getting threats,” he said.
“It is best for me to step down because I can’t play in these circumstances. But I would like to continue to play domestic cricket.”
Zulqarnain, who scored an unbeaten 19 and hit the winning runs in the fourth one-dayer on Friday, left the team hotel hours before the fifth one-day match eventually won by South Africa who took the series 3-2.
He landed in London hours after leaving Dubai and spent almost four hours locked in discussions with immigration authorities before finally emerging from Heathrow airport.
“I was told to cooperate or I would face lot of problems,” Zulqarnain said.
“This person approached me while I had gone out of the hotel for dinner.
He told me cooperate with us and you can make a lot of money.
“He said, ‘If you don’t cooperate you will no longer be part of the team and we can make life very difficult for you’.”
SECURITY
CONCERN
Zulqarnain said he had not yet decided whether to seek political asylum in Britain.
“I have not thought about this, I don’t even have enough money to hire a lawyer, my only concern now is the security of my family in Lahore,” he said.
Zulqarnain, who has played just one test and four ODIs, said he had gone to London because he felt safe there and knew that in Britain the law protected those in the right.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Monday the player had not informed them he was planning to leave the hotel nor had he told them the reason for his sudden decision.
“I was not confident enough to speak to the team management about it because I didn’t want to get my other team mates into trouble,” Zulqarnain said.
Pakistan manager Intikhab Alam said from Dubai that Zulqarnain’s sudden departure had been a surprise.
“He never spoke to me about any of this.
I am not a magician to know what is going on in the mind and heart of a person,” Intikhab said.
He confirmed that Zulqarnain had taken the passport from him, saying he wanted it to obtain a new SIM card for his mobile phone.
“We never knew what was in his mind, he spent the night at the hotel and left early next morning, we had no inkling of what he was planning,” Intikhab said.