Zulqarnain Haider's case reflects bookies still influencing cricket
Zulqarnain Haider, the Pakistani wicket keeper who scored the winning runs in the fourth ODI against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757, went missing before the last match of the One Day series against South Africa. It was later confirmed that he had taken refuge in London after receiving threats regarding his mortal well being from unidentified people following Pakistan's one wicket win over South Africa in the fourth match of the series. On Tuesday, he announced his retirement from international cricket due to life threats from some unidentified person for not losing the fourth one day against South Africa, and thus what seemed to be the start of a promising cricketing career proved to be the end instead for Zulqarnain.
This really shows how much the players trust the Pakistan Cricket Board in terms of important issues like security. Whatever the ground reality of the situation, one thing is for sure; Pakistan Cricket is a full fledged soap opera where every episode is filled with mind-boggling twists and turns. The ICC should solve Pakistani cases with coke and some pop corns in their hands. The spot fixing saga, teams not visiting Pakistan due to security concerns, the Younis Khan issue, and now this. They seem to aim to draw attention of the cricketing world towards themselves one way or the other.
It is still too early to predict the potential outcomes of this issue but one thing is for sure; more and more people are reaching cricket players to affect the outcome of matches these days. Zulqarnain, while making his first comments, confirmed that he received threats from unidentified people after not doing the things he was told to do in the 4th ODI against South Africa. He also told the media that he was told to get in line for the fifth One Day.
Zulqarnain is not the only player who has been reached by bookies and match fixers. In August, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 also revealed that he was reached by an Indian man during last year's England tour, who was later confirmed as a bookie. Watson was shocked and he immediately told his manager, Steve Bernard. Watson said that he initially took him as a fan who wanted to have a couple of drinks but later realized that he was a bookie. When the spot fixing scandal emerged, Watson was of the view that there is no doubt that these things are happening in cricket and felt sorry for young Aamir.
For quite some time reports of bookies connections have been reported in Pakistan's cricket team and many former players have highlighted that players have links to the bookies. After the spot fixing saga one would expect PCB to prevent something like this from happening ever again, but Zulqarnain Haider's case highlights the inability of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sarfraz-c88817 Nawaz, who is often the center of attention for his comments on match fixing, has been criticizing Pakistani cricketers for having bookie links for quite some time. Considering the past three to four months, Nawaz's concerns can be considered well placed.
Whether or not Zulqarnain Haider takes back his retirement remains to be seen. With the issue out in public, the ICC is also getting involved. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Haroon-Lorgat-c61719 said that the ICC is in close contact with PCB and is willing to provide support to the PCB and the player. He also commented that the right thing for Zulqarnain to do was to contact ACSU officials instead of fleeing the country without telling anyone.
Zulqarnain, who took the passport from the team management saying that he needed to buy a SIM card, left for England on Monday. Zulqarnain is currently in London and has urged that his family should be provided security. He said that he did not inform the PCB or other players because he feared the information might have leaked out.
Issues like these highlight the unfortunate increasing influence of match fixing and the likes in the cricketing world and they need to be dealt with thoroughly.
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