Zulqarnain wants to make a comeback

[Bapun]

Lahore: His international career was just one Test old when Zulqarnain Haider retired while in hiding in London and the Pakistan wicketkeeper, who has received death threats from match-fixers, wants to return to the big stage now that he is back in his country.

"I may be losing valuable time by not playing cricket but I will stage a comeback," said the 25-year-old, who returned to Pakistan earlier this week after being in London for five months citing death threats from match-fixers.

"My cricket has already suffered a lot and I miss playing as I had worked very hard to get into the national side," he added.

Besides the lone Test, the promising keeper-batsman had played just four ODIs and three Twenty20s when he announced his retirement last November while in London.

Zulqarnain said at the beginning of his career, he lost his mother but continued playing because of his love for the sport.

"You can understand what this sport means to me so imagine why I decided to go to London while in the national team," he said.

Zulqarnain reached his hometown Lahore yesterday and disclosed that the the Pakistan Cricket Board and the ICC are conducting an inquiry into the corruption in game.

"The PCB and ICC are conducting their own inquiries and I am confident those involved in cricket corruption would soon be known," he told the media.



Zulqarnain insisted that he had taken the decision to leave the team hotel last November after giving it a lot of thought.

"If I had not done what I did than I would not be in a position to say today what I am saying today," he said.

Zulqarnain fled the team hotel last year during a one-day series in Dubai against South Africa and after reaching London, said he had been threatened by an unknown person for not cooperating in fixing the series.

The keeper said he was delighted to learn that the police had busted a gang of bookmakers in Sialkot and some of them had confessed to being involved in making him threatening calls.

Zulqarnain withdrew his application for asylum in England only after being reassured of his security by Pakistan`s Interior Minister Rehman Malik.

"I really don`t know why I was targetted by the bookmakers. But I think the stance I took against corruption is equally important as playing for Pakistan," he said.

PTI