Cricketer Zulqarnain Haider, Pakistan's wicketkeeper, flees to London

Cricket was plunged into fresh turmoil today as a leading Pakistan player fled his team's hotel in Dubai and flew to London, claiming he had received death threats after scoring the winning runs in a one-day international. Wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider posted a message on his Facebook page saying that he was "leaving Pakistan cricket" because he had received a "bad message from one man to lose the last game".

He also phoned his brother and a television journalist in Pakistan, alleging he received a threat after Friday's close-fought match against South Africa. Haider arrived at Heathrow airport as his teammates played their deciding one-day match against South Africa back in Dubai, which Pakistan lost.

The drama comes on the heels of last August's corruption scandal when three Pakistani players became embroiled in match-fixing allegations triggered by a newspaper investigation. Mohammed Asif, Mohammed Amir and the captain Salman Butt are under suspension after being accused of accepting money via a middleman to bowl no-balls at specific points during the fourth Test against England at Lord's in the summer.

Last week Scotland Yard investigators sent a dossier of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service for possible prosecution, with the ICC expected to hold a disciplinary tribunal next year.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced an immediate inquiry following Haider's flight. Officials said they had no inkling of his departure. "The information shared with the PCB by local authorities indicates that Mr Haider has left the UAE for the United Kingdom," the PCB said in a statement. "The PCB continues to monitor this situation and is in regular contact with concerned authorities in this regard."

In Lahore Haider's brother, Raza, said he did not specify the nature of the threat. "He just seemed to be upset, as if he had some sort of pressure on him," he told a press conference at the family home, which was last night under police guard. The first sign of possible trouble in the Pakistani camp came on Saturday night when Haider and two other players were fined 500 dirhams (£84) each for breaking the team curfew.

Sources said Haider returned to his room less than 15 minutes late, but the fine was imposed as a sign of discipline. Last night Haider retrieved his passport from team management, saying he needed it to buy a mobile phone SIM card. This morning he texted a journalist with Geo, Pakistan's largest network, saying he had received threats and asking for protection for his family.

He simultaneously posted a message on his Facebook page that read: "leaving pakistan cricket because get bad msg fr 1 man fr lose the match in last game". By evening local police had posted 10 officers to guard the family home in Lahore. "It's just a precaution," senior officer Faisal Rana told the Guardian. "The threat is against Zulqarnain in Dubai, not the family here. We're still analysing the complaint. Maybe it's a rumour, maybe it's something else; I can't say at this point."

The PCB said Haider had not informed them or the ICC's anti-corruption unit of any threats. A PCB statement said he retrieved his passport for "personal use" on Saturday.

Pakistani officials denied that the drama marked the start of another national cricket scandal. "It's too early to involve all of Pakistani cricket," said Tafazzul Rizvi, legal adviser to the team. "This is just the act of one individual, and it's not a sensible act. Even he had threats against him, he should have informed the team security officer."

Rizvi said he had personally briefed the team before it left for Dubai on the procedures to follow in the event of any match-fixing or corruption suspicions. "I told them 'the time to come forward is now'. And nobody came forward," he said. Haider's other brother, Aqeel Haider, told Geo that he had not had any contact with the player and was "praying for him."

"I spoke to him last night, but he did not say anything about threats," he said. "I have not received any SMS or telephone call from him. He has not contacted with any of the family member as yet. We tried to contact him in the hotel too, but didn't succeed."

Born into a middle-class Lahore family, Haider made his international debut for Pakistan against South Africa in 2007. He was subsequently sidelined until this year. He is one of the more media savvy players on the Pakistani side, and has assiduously cultivated contacts with Pakistan and British journalists, often through Facebook. During last August's spot fixing allegations, he updated his status to say there was "one piece of good news – Zulqarnain made it to 68 in the ICC batting rankings", according to Karachi-based journalist Osman Samiuddin, of cricinfo.com. "He's very much in the public eye, and is not shy of putting himself up on Facebook to stay there."

Zulqarnain goes missing in Dubai

DUBAI: Pakistani cricket team wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider went missing from hotel room in Dubai, Geo News reported Monday.

The wicketkeeper Haider is missing from his hotel room since 6am this morning.

Sources said he was last seen at 630am from his room.

The wicketkeeper said in his Facebook post he was leaving cricket as someone gave him bad message on losing in last match.

The wicketkeeper words are: ‘leaving pakistan cricket because get bad msg fr 1 man fr lose the match in last game.’

Also, a message from Zulqarnain’s mobile received on cellphone of a friend and Geo News correspondent Sohail Imran, said he is leaving the cricket as someone is giving him murder threats.

The SMS received on Sohail Imran’s mobile phone said, ‘Match haar jao’ (Lose match.)
Geo News

Talking to Geo News, Zulqarnain’s brother Aqil Haider said his brother talked to the family last night.

Omar Akmal will play as wicketkeeper in today’s match.

One of the best cricket catches ever

One of the best cricket catches ever .. Must See Video

Pakistan take on Proteas in fourth ODI today

If it is Friday it has to be Pakistan. This is the slogan that Pakistan supporters used to shout during the Sharjah Cricket Stadium international matches. Very often Pakistan had emerged triumphant on a Friday, backed by the vociferous support from their fans. Will history repeat in Dubai Sports City International Cricket Stadium on Friday (today) and help Pakistan level the series against South Africa? The last two matches ended in nail-biting finishes transforming the series into a keenly fought one for the Cool & Cool Cup. South Africa are ahead 2-1 but with a packed stadium expected to back Pakistan it will be a tough task for them.

“The victory in the second one-day match and the close finish here has given us the confidence. If we can play with a positive mind, we can win the fourth match,” remarked Shahid Afridi, the captain of the Pakistan team. “It is important to play positive cricket and we know if we play good cricket we can beat them,” added Afridi. He feels that had his top order batsmen played a bit more positively then his team could have avoided the two-run defeat in the third one-day match. Johan Botha, who captained South Africa in the absence of injured Graeme Smith, is hoping to win the fourth Aone-day match and bag the series. “If we win the series will be ours,” he said admitting that his team was under pressure in both matches. “We have got a young team and we will keep learning as we go on. Bowling in the dead has always been a challenge but our fielding in all the three games has been excellent.” Afridi admitted that it was fielding that made the difference in the third match. “We dropped crucial catches and we need to be as good as the South Africans in fielding,” he said.

Fear: All the three one-day matches are being played on the same wicket and both captains have expressed fear on how the wicket may behave. “It will be very difficult to play three games on the same track. There are chances that the ball may keep low and it could be a small total game,” said Afridi. Botha too said: “The wicket is not going to be easier as it is going to be same strip for all three one-dayers and that is going to be interesting.” All eyes will be on the inform Hashim Amla, the hero of their third one-day match with an unbeaten 119 runs. He is 14 runs short of his 1,000 runs in calendar year and Pakistan will be keen to pick his wicket early. Afridi wants his bowlers to bowl tightly. He openly admitted that he is unhappy with his spinner Saeed Ajmal’s bowling.

Cricket-Sehwag half century gives India flying start

Virender Sehwag raced to an unbeaten half century to help India get off to a flying start in the first test of the three-match series against New Zealand at the Sardar Patel Stadium on Thursday. After captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni had won the toss and opted to bat, Sehwag reached the interval on 87 from just 84 balls to guide the hosts to 127 for one at lunch, with the loss of opener Gautam Gambhir the only blemish of the morning. At the break, Rahul Dravid (12) had shared in an unbeaten partnership of 67 with Sehwag.

The swashbuckling right-hander hit 15 boundaries in his knock and was at his punishing best against off-spinner Jeetan Patel, who went for 34 in five overs, including six fours off Sehwag. India's only casualty of a satisfactory session was Gambhir for 21, when the left-hander played on to part-time medium pacer Jesse Ryder when attempting an expansive cover drive. The New Zealand pacers toiled hard on a pitch that provided them little assistance as captain Daniel Vettori, playing in his 100th test, was forced to introduce spin as early as the ninth.

The hosts selected Shanthakumaran Sreesanth as the second paceman ahead of Ishant Sharma, while batsman Kane Williamson and fast bowler Hamish Bennett were handed their New Zealand debuts. The second test is in Hyderabad from Nov. 12-16 while the third and final test will be played in Nagpur from Nov. 20-24.

Cricket-South Africa hold nerve to clinch tense win

South Africa held their nerve to clinch a thrilling two-run victory over Pakistan in a chaotic and error strewn finish to the third one-day international at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday. Defending a modest total of just 228 for nine, built almost exclusively around an unbeaten century from opener Hashim Amla, South African seamers Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Juan Theron only just managed to defend 34 runs in the final four overs.

Pakistan came up short despite an unbeaten 59 from Fawad Alam who was dropped twice in the closing overs while Theron added to the tension by bowling a no ball with the first delivery of the final over from which 12 runs were required. Amla hit 119, continuing a superb fun of form in the last six months which has seen him score 865 runs in his last 11 ODI innings with five centuries.

On an awkward, rather than difficult or dangerous batting surface which lacked pace, Amla guided and teased the ball into gaps and used his delicate touch to play as late as possible.

His team mates, however, were largely at sea with only J-P Duminy (26) passing 20. AB de Villiers might have done better than his 19 off 40 balls had he not been bizarrely given out stumped by third umpire Zameer Haider despite his back foot being clearly grounded behind his crease.

Pakistan's top order once again struggled although Imran Farhat (47) and Asad Shafiq (43) added 85 for the third wicket to repair the early damage. Shahid Afridi hit his second ball for six to surpass Sanath Jayasuriya as the leading international six-hitter of all time across all formats (353) but was then promptly dismissed.

Seamer Wahab Riaz was the unlikely hero in the closing overs smiting fast bowler Morne Morkel over point for six in a cameo innings of 21 from 11 deliveries which suddenly reignited Pakistan's hopes which had seemed remote with 83 required from the final 10 overs and only five wickets in hand.

Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir accuse ICC of 'conspiracy against Pakistan'

Butt and Amir are suspended indefinitely while the ICC mounts its investigation into alleged spot-fixing during the fourth Test against England at Lord’s unearthed by the News of the World. Michael Beloff QC chaired a disciplinary hearing in Dubai at the weekend which threw out their appeals against the suspension. Pace bowler Mohammad Asif, their fellow Pakistan Test player, had already withdrawn his appeal.

Butt returned to Pakistan on Monday and launched a series of attacks on the ICC during a tour of Pakistani television channels. “They listened to us but it felt as if their decision had already been made from before,” Butt said. “It was not based on a single piece of evidence. After a 12-hour hearing the only so-called evidence they had was the same News Of The World article and the same video everyone has seen.

The three have been banned from using the training facilities at the Pakistan Cricket Board academy as the administrators react to stinging private criticism from the ICC over its handling of anti-corruption measures.

The PCB are fighting for their own future, with strong voices within the game calling on the ICC to take over the running of the board, making it politically expedient to put distance between the administrators and the accused players.

“It [the PCB distancing itself] wasn’t expected,” Butt said. “Nobody from the PCB has even called us so I don’t know what is going on there. But I think now is the time for even the government to get involved as well as the PCB because it isn’t just about three players. This is Pakistan being cornered.”

Amir, the youngest of the accused, added: “Before leaving for Dubai we felt the case will be in our favour, but when he [Beloff] gave the decision it looked as if he had written the decision before. We went for the truth but this could be a conspiracy against Pakistan, to tarnish Pakistan’s reputation.”

The duo had hoped the lifting of their suspensions would allow them to take part in the one-day and Test series against South Africa currently taking place in Abu Dhabi, and then the World Cup next year in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Razzaq raises the roof

Abdul Razzaq played one of greatest ODI innings when he dragged Pakistan back from the dead to an incredible one-wicket victory with one ball to spare against a bewildered Proteas here at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium last night.

Razzaq, who came in with the Pakistan total on 136/5 after the dismissal of Shahid Afridi for a brisk 49, could hardly have imagined fashioning victory for his team who still faced a formidable target of 287 for victory.

And yet, somehow he completed the job, smashing 10 sixes and seven fours in an unbeaten 109 in just 72 balls. Not only did he have to score the runs virtually single-handedly, but he also had to nurse the lower-order through to the target. He achieved both as the crowd, who had been ominously quiet for most of the match, simply went ballistic.

From the Proteas point of view, they have some serious bowling problems, particularly at the death. While Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Morné Morkel performed well, Charl Langeveldt’s World Cup hopes took a severe bruising as he went for 75 in his 10 overs, while Albie Morkel was blitzed out of sight, going for 52 in 4.5 overs. It wasn’t just that they were expensive, it’s that they persisted in bowling length to Razzaq who was only too happy to tee off as he hit 53 off the last four overs all by himself.

In retrospect, it’s strange that Rusty Theron, who was specifically included in the ODI squad for his superb death bowling in the two T20s, hasn’t played in either of the ODI games. After their limp displays in the T20 matches and the first ODI, it was the Pakistan tiger who bounded out of his deep lair in the jungle last night, something that augurs well for the series.

With Graeme Smith (finger) and Jacques Kallis (cramps and nausea) both rested to enable them to get over their problems, Johan Botha took over the captaincy.

Stand-in opener Robin Peterson didn’t last long, playing across a straight one from Abdul Razzaq, but Hashim Amla, who unleashed a flurry of typically wristy strokes on both sides of the wicket and a promoted Colin Ingram took the team along at a good clip, adding 84 for the second wicket.

Then Amla was leg-before playing down the wrong line to Shahid Afridi, but AB de Villiers and Ingram carried on without missing a beat and it seemed that South Africa were poised to reach 300 when they reached 196/2 in 36 overs. Ingram went to his hundred, his second in five ODIs and a magnificent achievement, before being trapped leg before by a reverse-swing “toe crusher” from Wahab Riaz. I

Fortunately, the increasingly mature JP Duminy, who has played some responsible and highly important innings in the middle-order on this tour, struck an important half-century as he provided the late momentum for a faltering innings.