‘Indian bookie said he’d kill’, says Hyder

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Pakistani wicket-keeper Zulqarnain Haider who ended his exile on Monday arrived here, and immediately blamed Indian bookies for his misery.

“It was an Indian who had threatened my life. He asked me to get involved in fixing or prepare for death”, Haider said on arrival from London — five and a half months after mysteriously flying to the United Kingdom.

“The man who had hurled threats at me was an Indian. Kamran Akmal’s father-in-law is also involved in match-fixing. Investigations should be held against him”, Haider said.

The former wicket-keeper said he continuously faced ill-treatment from Akmal during a series against South Africa in Dubai.

Haider said that the Pakistan government had assured him of complete security. He said that he made all-out efforts to end corruption in cricket. He urged the International Cricket Council and the Pakistan Cricket Board to take steps to end malpractices in the game.

Haider said that he would meet PCB chairman Ijaz Butt and would announce his decision about retirement. Haider, who turned 25 on Saturday, had announced last week that he was prepared to return to Pakistan and resume his playing career.

Haider had gone missing from the Pakistan team’s hotel in Dubai on the morning of the fifth and final one-day international against South Africa on November 8, saying he had received death threats from unidentified people seeking to draw him into match-fixing.

He fled to the UK to seek protection and placed an application for asylum that hinged on the nature of the information he was able to divulge, as the extraordinary nature of his case appeared to fall outside the usual conditions required of a person seeking refugee status.

In the aftermath the episode, Haider retired from international cricket and his contract with the PCB was suspended.

A fact-finding committee set-up by the PCB to look into the affair failed to find any clear motives behind his actions.