The HBS Guy
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Humari countries mein bahut logon ko videsh jaane ka chaska hota hai yaar aur wo bhi LONDON!
Zulqarnain Haider seeks British asylum after match-fixing threats
- Thread starter Ahmad
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Humari countries mein bahut logon ko videsh jaane ka chaska hota hai yaar aur wo bhi LONDON!
pak-marine
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[/QUOTE]=Bas_tum_Pak;1256689
Urdu Speakers were agents of RAW ...
the same raw agents made Pakistan .. how silly can one get or you just have a big mouth??
Bas_tum_Pak
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No it is just a joke.
Real Sentence is 'You guys even blame ISI if get failed in school exams.'
and has been used hundered of times in this Forum.
No You have small mind , I just said because of the Statement given by the Haider "...... He spoke Urdu but I cannot describe the accent accurately. He said you will make lots of money if you join us and help us ........"
It is Just a Sentence , Don't take it on your Heart .. Get a Life Man
Here is the breifing about this cricketer on the guardian website for the last few hours:
3.10pm: Somewhat confusingly Reuters is now reporting that Zulqarnain Haider is NOT seeking asylum. The news agency quotes Haider saying:
The border agency has taken my fingerprints and isued me a temporary stay.
I had no intentions of applying for political asylum at this stage and, if the Pakistan government is ready to give me assurance of security for me and my family, I am ready to return to Pakistan.
I have no issues playing for Pakistan again provided the Pakistan Cricket Board wants me to play.
2.35pm: Following on from all of these statements, emailer Imran Abbas asks some pertinent questions: "Why did Zulqarnain flee rather than inform team/security manager? If someone asked him to lose the match, does it mean that other players in the same dressing room were approached? Why did he not inform the law authorities in the UAE?"
2.21pm: Zakir Khan - the director of cricket operations for the PCB has told CNN that they are keen to speak to Zulqarnain Haider. Khan said:
We are waiting for [confirmation] to come through to us, we have not heard anything from him in person [regarding his retirement] though there is a lot of media-related statements.
We have been trying to get through to him, to get hold of his family but nobody can give us satisfactory information about his whereabouts. It's a complete surprise what he has done at the moment.
Khan also comments upon Haider's decision not to take his problem to the PCB.
He is a contracted player and recently we went through with him the anti-corruption measures and what needs to be done if he was approached like this, but he has not followed any of these procedures.
We want to hear from him about what has happened, because there is a big process to go through. We are all shocked [about the allegations] and want to listen to him.
2.11pm: Channel 4 News's Alex Thomson blogs on a similar theme:
The mystifying aspect to all this is that cricket's Watchdog, the ICC, is based in Dubai, where the Pakistan team have been playing.
They all had a big briefing from the ICC about what to do if you get any kind of threat. I will lay good money that the ICC protocol does not include: "Scarper to the UK if you are under pressure to throw two matches".
2.00pm: Cricinfo has also spoken to the ICC, quoting chief executive Haroon Lorgat: "It is a team management issue in the first instance. We would of course be interested in speaking to him but nobody knows where he is. So we won't make any comments until we are able to establish the facts."
It adds that Lorgat said that Haider should have spoken to the Anti Corruption and Security Unit. "I think we have to build the confidence amongst the players that the right thing to do is to speak to the ACSU officials if they have got anything that they want to declare. I don't think it was wise of him to have done what he did, because it doesn't solve the problems for him as well and the right thing would have been to speak to the ACSU."
1.57pm: Andy Bull has just spoken to the International Cricket Council who declined to comment saying that they are waiting for "the big picture" to emerge before speaking.
1.35pm: Pakistan cricket team manager Intikhab Alam said Haider did not inform the management about the threats he claimed to have received, The Times of India reports.
"No he didn't inform me or anyone in the management about what was going on. He didn't come to us for help," Intikhab said from Dubai. "I am not a magician to know what is going on in the mind and heart of a person. We had no idea what he was up to or thinking."
12.55pm: In today's Spin, Andy Bull gives Haider a warming character reference:
There is no doubt that Haider is a decent man. His gutsy innings of 88 in the second innings of the second Test against England earlier this summer showed a fighting spirit that shamed some of his team-mates. He then donated half his match fee for that Test to the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, honouring a vow he had made when his mother died of cancer in 1998. When he was sent home from the tour of England because he had fractured a finger, he did volunteer work serving food and distributing medicine to victims of the Pakistan floods. After he hit the final runs in Friday's ODI he dedicated the win to those same victims.
Player safety is, we are told, the paramount concern of the ICC and the national cricket boards. Now it seems that the PCB was unable to protect a principled man who felt that his life was in danger because he refused to bend to the will of the match-fixers.
12.44pm: Former Pakistan test players have criticised Haider, although their comments make interesting reading:
Basit Ali, who led the allegations against Salim Malik in a previous match-fixing scandal, said:
It is strange the way he acted. I think being a new player maybe he got scared by the threats, but this is nothing new for professional players. Most of us have got threats at some time to do this and that but you just ignore them.
Sarfraz Nawaz, one of Pakistan's greatest fast bowlers who has made previous allegations over match-fixing, added:
Why choose to go to the UK if you are getting threats? He should have instead returned to Pakistan.
12.34pm: Haider also told Geo News about the events leading up to his decision:
I was told to cooperate or I would face lot of problems.
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'.
12.19pm: Haider told the Geo News channel:
I have decided it is best for me to retire from international cricket since my family and I are constantly getting threats. It is best I leave international cricket.
I received death threats to lose the fourth and fifth one-day internationals against South Africa, but I could not compromise the dignity of my country.
I would rather flee away than sell out the dignity and respect of my motherland.
I can assure you that I am safe and sound. I'm not arrested but I cannot tell where I am hiding for the sake of protection of my life.
Immigration officials in the UK were kind to me and proposed me to hire the services of a counsellor but I am yet to reach a decision.
I understand there is a rule in Britain that if you are right and if you are not a criminal, then they always protect you.
12.08pm: There is much debate as to the current whereabouts of Haider. Channel 4 News's Alex Thomson has published a string of tweets on the subject: "Am currently trying to meet Mr Zulqarnain Haider the Pakistani wicketkeeper who has fled from Dubai...Heading to Heathrow to politely inquire of hotels where Mr Haider might be...Meanwhile it's cold. It's wet. It's Heathrow Oh the glamour."
Is Haider in more danger because the media, including me, here, are reporting on his possible location? One hopes that he is not in immediate danger. Further down the line, however, may well depend upon what he says to the ICC and Scotland Yard.
Thomson also tweets: "Pakistan friends and sources saying 'why would anyone intimidate a compete nonentity - a nobody.'"
This is surely wide of the mark. In a team game, if you wanted to fix events, surely you wouldn't choose the highest profile players to pressurise? Lesser lights have less money, less public standing, more job insecurity.
11.45am: Pakistan cricketer Zulqarnain Haider has retired from international cricket. Given the events of the past few days, this is perhaps not that surprising.
On Friday Haider scored the winning runs in a one-day international against South Africa.
By Sunday night Haider was preparing to flee after facing alleged death threats. He left a Facebook message saying: "leaving pakistan cricket because get bad msg fr 1 man fr lose the match in last game." Haider went missing from the Pakistan team hotel in Dubai yesterday and later arrived in England.
Haider plans to seek political asylum in England and has now announced his retirement from international cricket.
Andy Wilson reports that "the 24-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman is considered one of the good guys in a sport troubled by match-fixing".
While Mike Selvey argues: "Zulqarnain Haider reveals vortex which traps Pakistan's young blades."
What will the ICC do? What will the PCB do? What will Scotland Yard do? Will Haider feel safe enough to speak out?
We will update this blog through the day, please leave comments or weblinks below, or email steve.busfield@guardian.co.uk or via Twitter.
Pakistan cricketer Zulqarnain Haider: latest updates | Steve Busfield | Sport | guardian.co.uk
3.10pm: Somewhat confusingly Reuters is now reporting that Zulqarnain Haider is NOT seeking asylum. The news agency quotes Haider saying:
The border agency has taken my fingerprints and isued me a temporary stay.
I had no intentions of applying for political asylum at this stage and, if the Pakistan government is ready to give me assurance of security for me and my family, I am ready to return to Pakistan.
I have no issues playing for Pakistan again provided the Pakistan Cricket Board wants me to play.
2.35pm: Following on from all of these statements, emailer Imran Abbas asks some pertinent questions: "Why did Zulqarnain flee rather than inform team/security manager? If someone asked him to lose the match, does it mean that other players in the same dressing room were approached? Why did he not inform the law authorities in the UAE?"
2.21pm: Zakir Khan - the director of cricket operations for the PCB has told CNN that they are keen to speak to Zulqarnain Haider. Khan said:
We are waiting for [confirmation] to come through to us, we have not heard anything from him in person [regarding his retirement] though there is a lot of media-related statements.
We have been trying to get through to him, to get hold of his family but nobody can give us satisfactory information about his whereabouts. It's a complete surprise what he has done at the moment.
Khan also comments upon Haider's decision not to take his problem to the PCB.
He is a contracted player and recently we went through with him the anti-corruption measures and what needs to be done if he was approached like this, but he has not followed any of these procedures.
We want to hear from him about what has happened, because there is a big process to go through. We are all shocked [about the allegations] and want to listen to him.
2.11pm: Channel 4 News's Alex Thomson blogs on a similar theme:
The mystifying aspect to all this is that cricket's Watchdog, the ICC, is based in Dubai, where the Pakistan team have been playing.
They all had a big briefing from the ICC about what to do if you get any kind of threat. I will lay good money that the ICC protocol does not include: "Scarper to the UK if you are under pressure to throw two matches".
2.00pm: Cricinfo has also spoken to the ICC, quoting chief executive Haroon Lorgat: "It is a team management issue in the first instance. We would of course be interested in speaking to him but nobody knows where he is. So we won't make any comments until we are able to establish the facts."
It adds that Lorgat said that Haider should have spoken to the Anti Corruption and Security Unit. "I think we have to build the confidence amongst the players that the right thing to do is to speak to the ACSU officials if they have got anything that they want to declare. I don't think it was wise of him to have done what he did, because it doesn't solve the problems for him as well and the right thing would have been to speak to the ACSU."
1.57pm: Andy Bull has just spoken to the International Cricket Council who declined to comment saying that they are waiting for "the big picture" to emerge before speaking.
1.35pm: Pakistan cricket team manager Intikhab Alam said Haider did not inform the management about the threats he claimed to have received, The Times of India reports.
"No he didn't inform me or anyone in the management about what was going on. He didn't come to us for help," Intikhab said from Dubai. "I am not a magician to know what is going on in the mind and heart of a person. We had no idea what he was up to or thinking."
12.55pm: In today's Spin, Andy Bull gives Haider a warming character reference:
There is no doubt that Haider is a decent man. His gutsy innings of 88 in the second innings of the second Test against England earlier this summer showed a fighting spirit that shamed some of his team-mates. He then donated half his match fee for that Test to the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, honouring a vow he had made when his mother died of cancer in 1998. When he was sent home from the tour of England because he had fractured a finger, he did volunteer work serving food and distributing medicine to victims of the Pakistan floods. After he hit the final runs in Friday's ODI he dedicated the win to those same victims.
Player safety is, we are told, the paramount concern of the ICC and the national cricket boards. Now it seems that the PCB was unable to protect a principled man who felt that his life was in danger because he refused to bend to the will of the match-fixers.
12.44pm: Former Pakistan test players have criticised Haider, although their comments make interesting reading:
Basit Ali, who led the allegations against Salim Malik in a previous match-fixing scandal, said:
It is strange the way he acted. I think being a new player maybe he got scared by the threats, but this is nothing new for professional players. Most of us have got threats at some time to do this and that but you just ignore them.
Sarfraz Nawaz, one of Pakistan's greatest fast bowlers who has made previous allegations over match-fixing, added:
Why choose to go to the UK if you are getting threats? He should have instead returned to Pakistan.
12.34pm: Haider also told Geo News about the events leading up to his decision:
I was told to cooperate or I would face lot of problems.
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'.
12.19pm: Haider told the Geo News channel:
I have decided it is best for me to retire from international cricket since my family and I are constantly getting threats. It is best I leave international cricket.
I received death threats to lose the fourth and fifth one-day internationals against South Africa, but I could not compromise the dignity of my country.
I would rather flee away than sell out the dignity and respect of my motherland.
I can assure you that I am safe and sound. I'm not arrested but I cannot tell where I am hiding for the sake of protection of my life.
Immigration officials in the UK were kind to me and proposed me to hire the services of a counsellor but I am yet to reach a decision.
I understand there is a rule in Britain that if you are right and if you are not a criminal, then they always protect you.
12.08pm: There is much debate as to the current whereabouts of Haider. Channel 4 News's Alex Thomson has published a string of tweets on the subject: "Am currently trying to meet Mr Zulqarnain Haider the Pakistani wicketkeeper who has fled from Dubai...Heading to Heathrow to politely inquire of hotels where Mr Haider might be...Meanwhile it's cold. It's wet. It's Heathrow Oh the glamour."
Is Haider in more danger because the media, including me, here, are reporting on his possible location? One hopes that he is not in immediate danger. Further down the line, however, may well depend upon what he says to the ICC and Scotland Yard.
Thomson also tweets: "Pakistan friends and sources saying 'why would anyone intimidate a compete nonentity - a nobody.'"
This is surely wide of the mark. In a team game, if you wanted to fix events, surely you wouldn't choose the highest profile players to pressurise? Lesser lights have less money, less public standing, more job insecurity.
11.45am: Pakistan cricketer Zulqarnain Haider has retired from international cricket. Given the events of the past few days, this is perhaps not that surprising.
On Friday Haider scored the winning runs in a one-day international against South Africa.
By Sunday night Haider was preparing to flee after facing alleged death threats. He left a Facebook message saying: "leaving pakistan cricket because get bad msg fr 1 man fr lose the match in last game." Haider went missing from the Pakistan team hotel in Dubai yesterday and later arrived in England.
Haider plans to seek political asylum in England and has now announced his retirement from international cricket.
Andy Wilson reports that "the 24-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman is considered one of the good guys in a sport troubled by match-fixing".
While Mike Selvey argues: "Zulqarnain Haider reveals vortex which traps Pakistan's young blades."
What will the ICC do? What will the PCB do? What will Scotland Yard do? Will Haider feel safe enough to speak out?
We will update this blog through the day, please leave comments or weblinks below, or email steve.busfield@guardian.co.uk or via Twitter.
Pakistan cricketer Zulqarnain Haider: latest updates | Steve Busfield | Sport | guardian.co.uk
Kambojaric
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Man stop giving rash judgements before we even know what really has happened. One thing we know for sure is that the "cricket maffias" have been getting stronger and stronger, i personally believe him. After all he scored the winning runs in the previous game. Some rich bastard probably had betted for SA to win. Who knows? Fact is "har kisi ko apni jan pyari hoti hai".
silent hill
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he just scored 19 runs in the match for god sake, who cares if he scores the last 3 winning runs, the second run was gonna be the run out, i think, this guy just played in a very dull and immature way, if he had any insecurity, he would have consulted ICC at max and asked for his security from dubai authorities, bookies operate every where in uk too, so if he has so much insecurity he can be dead in UK too
i think this guy just for the sake of asylum reasons took a very bad drama and now its gonna give him nothing and cost him every thing and i have no sympathies for him.... hope PCB never restores this guy as long as he has no big parchi... he has badly damaged the image of pak cricket and pakistan
i think this guy just for the sake of asylum reasons took a very bad drama and now its gonna give him nothing and cost him every thing and i have no sympathies for him.... hope PCB never restores this guy as long as he has no big parchi... he has badly damaged the image of pak cricket and pakistan
therecanonlybeone
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am more than sure it was for the red passport
,some cricket fans just cant grasp the truth .
Abu Zolfiqar
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my take on this issue is simple......
it was a foolish, uncalculated move for Mr. Haider to hastily depart the country; if he is worried about his FAMILY in Lahore, why would he make an entreprenurial decision to run away to UK? Why not just inform the PCB (for whatever that is worth) or contact higher-ups in the authorities --whom he surely, using his influence, could establish contact with
on the other hand, I do suspect that dirty games are being played and Pakistan Cricket is being criminally mismanaged; some certain individuals may be minting money at the expense of our national honour and pride.
It has gotten to the point where FIA really needs to be delegated to get to the bottom of this. Who is issuing these threats; who is contacting and harassing our national cricketers; who is involved or even indirectly involved with these shady behind-the-scenes characters
And what to do with Mr. Haider? He is an asset to the team, but his move was not responsible or rational thing to do. It has created extra dimension to the drama.
Nevertheless, I don't think he would qualify as a political assylum seeker. His security should be guaranteed, an investigation should ensue, but he should be temporarily suspended and/or he should issue apology to Pakistan on national television
for God's sakes what a preposterous, PATHETIC situation
it was a foolish, uncalculated move for Mr. Haider to hastily depart the country; if he is worried about his FAMILY in Lahore, why would he make an entreprenurial decision to run away to UK? Why not just inform the PCB (for whatever that is worth) or contact higher-ups in the authorities --whom he surely, using his influence, could establish contact with
on the other hand, I do suspect that dirty games are being played and Pakistan Cricket is being criminally mismanaged; some certain individuals may be minting money at the expense of our national honour and pride.
It has gotten to the point where FIA really needs to be delegated to get to the bottom of this. Who is issuing these threats; who is contacting and harassing our national cricketers; who is involved or even indirectly involved with these shady behind-the-scenes characters
And what to do with Mr. Haider? He is an asset to the team, but his move was not responsible or rational thing to do. It has created extra dimension to the drama.
Nevertheless, I don't think he would qualify as a political assylum seeker. His security should be guaranteed, an investigation should ensue, but he should be temporarily suspended and/or he should issue apology to Pakistan on national television
for God's sakes what a preposterous, PATHETIC situation
Abu Zolfiqar
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well it works both ways; every time an old lady somewhere in uttar pradesh slips on a banana peal and a stampede ensues, you blame ISI/Pakistan
BelligerentPacifist
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Another Viking (Zul qarnain=2 horned) descends onto Britain!
Abu Zolfiqar
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well perhaps but you see, according to his own speech he represented Pakistan Nation's interest and loved the motherland. So if he indeed meant it, he'll do the right thing and return to where he belongs without delay. If he needs "time off" then fine let him by all means get tourist visa and go shop at harrods. And in the first place nobody should be threatening our national athletes, for crying out loud. Another undesirable attention and spotlight on our team. Alas!
There was one man everybody wanted to talk to today: Zulqarnain Haider. The Pakistan wicketkeeper may be about to blow the whistle on one of the biggest corruption scandals in the history of sport. Haider is keeping what he knows close to his chest for the moment, but he let slip some disturbing hints today and made it clear that there is much more to come.
Haider spent the day in a hotel just outside Heathrow airport, protected by a police cordon and under siege from the assembled media. The only time anyone saw him was at 3pm, when he was whisked from the hotel by the police, bundled into a van and driven to a local station for questioning.
Information seeped out much of it contradictory. What is undisputed is that Haider says he is on the run because death threats were made against him and his family after he refused to co-operate with match-fixers during Pakistan's recent one-day international series against South Africa in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Yesterday, Haider told the Pakistani television news station Geo TV: "I was approached by one person who asked me to fix the fourth and fifth match and said that there would be problems for me if I did not do it. I was told to co-operate or I would face lot of problems. This person approached me while I had gone out of the hotel for dinner. He told me: 'Co-operate with us and you can make a lot of money.' He said: 'If you don't co-operate you will no longer be part of the team and we can make life very difficult for you.'"
The threat to his life was "imminent", he said. "I had to leave. My life was at stake," he was quoted by the Sun. "Had I not flown out in time, you would have the news of my death. They would have killed me. They were chasing me."
Haider gave several phone interviews to Geo TV over the course of the day. In the morning he claimed he had come to England to seek asylum and that at the age of 24, he was retiring from international cricket. Authorities in England made it clear that he did not have a strong claim for asylum. By the late afternoon he had changed his mind on both counts. "The border agency has taken my fingerprints and issued me a temporary stay," Haider said. "I had no intentions of applying for political asylum at this stage and if the Pakistan government is ready to give me assurance of security for me and my family, I am ready to return to Pakistan."
However, his country's sports minister, Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani, later described Zulqarnain's defection as an "embarrassment". If he [Haider] is such a weak and scared man, he should not have played cricket especially not for Pakistan," Jakhrani said. "It is unacceptable that he should desert the team in this manner and seek asylum in London."
Haider went on: "I have no issues playing for Pakistan again provided the Pakistan Cricket Board wants me to play. I had a promising career to look forward to as a Pakistan player. Now my entire career is at stake. I want my family to be with me here as I also fear for their safety." Haider's wife and two daughters have been under armed guard since yesterday morning. His wife, Qurutul Ain, has pleaded for her husband to return to Dubai.
Haider checked out of the Grand Hyatt hotel there yesterday morning and made his way to the airport. As he left he passed several team-mates, who were gathering for their morning prayers. He told them he was going to meet a cousin and would return to the hotel in time to catch the team bus to the ground for the fifth one-day international. He never came back. His flight caught everyone on the hop. The PCB spent much of today trying to get in touch with him but struggled to do so because his mobile phone had been confiscated as part of the investigation. Zakir Khan, the PCB's director of cricket operations, said: "We have been trying to get through to him, to get hold of his family but nobody can give us satisfactory information about his whereabouts. It's a complete surprise what he has done at the moment." The PCB's legal adviser, Taffazul Rizvi, accused Haider of "a blatant and audacious violation of team protocols".
Explaining his conduct, Haider said: "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. I was running to save my life. I was praying to God to save me."
The Pakistan team manager, Intikhab Alam, said: "No, he didn't inform me or anyone in the management about what was going on. He didn't come to us for help. We had no idea what he was up to or thinking."
The International Cricket Council said it was a matter for the PCB, though it would offer full support if needed. Haider has said he has spoken to the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit since he arrived in England. The ICC maintained that given the serious nature of the threats made against the player, it would be compromising his safety if it revealed details of any interaction to the public.
Whatever Haider reveals to the ACSU and the police, it is likely to be explosive.
He also said he had received threats from match-fixers while playing in Pakistani domestic cricket as the captain of the Lahore Eagles, and particular suspicion has fallen on a one-day match against National Bank in March 2009.
Haider spent the day in a hotel just outside Heathrow airport, protected by a police cordon and under siege from the assembled media. The only time anyone saw him was at 3pm, when he was whisked from the hotel by the police, bundled into a van and driven to a local station for questioning.
Information seeped out much of it contradictory. What is undisputed is that Haider says he is on the run because death threats were made against him and his family after he refused to co-operate with match-fixers during Pakistan's recent one-day international series against South Africa in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Yesterday, Haider told the Pakistani television news station Geo TV: "I was approached by one person who asked me to fix the fourth and fifth match and said that there would be problems for me if I did not do it. I was told to co-operate or I would face lot of problems. This person approached me while I had gone out of the hotel for dinner. He told me: 'Co-operate with us and you can make a lot of money.' He said: 'If you don't co-operate you will no longer be part of the team and we can make life very difficult for you.'"
The threat to his life was "imminent", he said. "I had to leave. My life was at stake," he was quoted by the Sun. "Had I not flown out in time, you would have the news of my death. They would have killed me. They were chasing me."
Haider gave several phone interviews to Geo TV over the course of the day. In the morning he claimed he had come to England to seek asylum and that at the age of 24, he was retiring from international cricket. Authorities in England made it clear that he did not have a strong claim for asylum. By the late afternoon he had changed his mind on both counts. "The border agency has taken my fingerprints and issued me a temporary stay," Haider said. "I had no intentions of applying for political asylum at this stage and if the Pakistan government is ready to give me assurance of security for me and my family, I am ready to return to Pakistan."
However, his country's sports minister, Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani, later described Zulqarnain's defection as an "embarrassment". If he [Haider] is such a weak and scared man, he should not have played cricket especially not for Pakistan," Jakhrani said. "It is unacceptable that he should desert the team in this manner and seek asylum in London."
Haider went on: "I have no issues playing for Pakistan again provided the Pakistan Cricket Board wants me to play. I had a promising career to look forward to as a Pakistan player. Now my entire career is at stake. I want my family to be with me here as I also fear for their safety." Haider's wife and two daughters have been under armed guard since yesterday morning. His wife, Qurutul Ain, has pleaded for her husband to return to Dubai.
Haider checked out of the Grand Hyatt hotel there yesterday morning and made his way to the airport. As he left he passed several team-mates, who were gathering for their morning prayers. He told them he was going to meet a cousin and would return to the hotel in time to catch the team bus to the ground for the fifth one-day international. He never came back. His flight caught everyone on the hop. The PCB spent much of today trying to get in touch with him but struggled to do so because his mobile phone had been confiscated as part of the investigation. Zakir Khan, the PCB's director of cricket operations, said: "We have been trying to get through to him, to get hold of his family but nobody can give us satisfactory information about his whereabouts. It's a complete surprise what he has done at the moment." The PCB's legal adviser, Taffazul Rizvi, accused Haider of "a blatant and audacious violation of team protocols".
Explaining his conduct, Haider said: "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. I was running to save my life. I was praying to God to save me."
The Pakistan team manager, Intikhab Alam, said: "No, he didn't inform me or anyone in the management about what was going on. He didn't come to us for help. We had no idea what he was up to or thinking."
The International Cricket Council said it was a matter for the PCB, though it would offer full support if needed. Haider has said he has spoken to the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit since he arrived in England. The ICC maintained that given the serious nature of the threats made against the player, it would be compromising his safety if it revealed details of any interaction to the public.
Whatever Haider reveals to the ACSU and the police, it is likely to be explosive.
He also said he had received threats from match-fixers while playing in Pakistani domestic cricket as the captain of the Lahore Eagles, and particular suspicion has fallen on a one-day match against National Bank in March 2009.
MATADOR007
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I think its bout time PCB shud undergo reforms and i mean real reforms and with sweeping changes at administrative levels get PCB to work autonomously devoid of ne government connections
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