Shahid Afridi is never short of an opinion. But yesterday, he had nothing to say when asked about wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider, who fled to London without informing the team bosses.
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Shahid Afridi |
Haider decided to vanish late on Sunday after being approached by a man to play badly in the "last game".
This was according to a message posted on his Facebook page. It was not clear if Haider was referring to the fourth game when he bailed out his team to a series-levelling win by one wicket or the final game yesterday.
But the wicketkeeper, who was stepping in for regular Kamran Akmal - himself under the cloud of match-fixing -- decided to flee to London instead of reporting the matter to the authorities.
Always surrounded by some controversy or the other, Afridi did add that he wished the overseas tours went off without any incident. Pakistan have been playing out their share of the international matches in the UAE and recently in England.
"We are trying to get the team back in shape before the World Cup, but something or the other comes up. These things are affecting the team, for sure.
"So I hope the ICC and PCB solve the problem and put these things in the side and work towards building a good team and ensure that there are no such problems in every match." South African captain Graeme Smith also maintained a stoic stand.
"Nothing came into our consideration. We were focusing too much on our own things to do and our game plan. Honestly, we were not much fussed about them (Pakistan)," he said.
The spotlight, apart from Haider, will fall on the manager Intikhab Alam and coach Waqar Younis, who handed the missing wicketkeeper his passport when he asked for it on the pretext of some personal work.
Despite the circumstances that the team are finding themselves in, three players, Haider included, broke the team curfew rules and were penalised.
Who is Zulqarnain Haider?
>> Zulqarnain Haider was born on April 23, 1986 in Lahore.
>> He is generally regarded as the reserve keeper to Kamran Akmal.
>> A right-handed batsman, he made his debut for Pakistan in a Twenty20 match against South Africa in 2007.
>> He made his ODI debut in the current series against South Africa.
>> He has played only one Test ” against England at Edgbaston last August.
>> He was one of three Pakistani players fined for breaking curfew during the ongoing ODI series against South Africa. Shahzaib Hasan and Abdur Rehman were the others
