I Salute, Zulqarnain Haider for not selling Pakistan to Cricketing Bookies
In what may seem to have been a huge controversy yesterday just before the start of Pakistan vs South Africa‘s 5th and final One Day International in Dubai. Zulqarnain Haider a new wicket keeper for Pakistan quietly skipped out early that morning from Dubai taking to London. Amidst the massive match fixing controversy that has plagued Pakistan Cricket this last year, it seemed that Zulqarnain Haider may too have also fallen astray.
A day later after reaching London he briefly talked to reporters and was guarded in admitted to have been receiving threats from one un-named person to influnence the 4th ODI, which Pakistan spectacularly won two days earlier, and the pressure was on him again to influence the 5th ODI as a pay-back. The only way he thought best was to skip out of Dubai as he could not sell his country, to have said on cricinfo
“The fourth ODI, the things I was told to do I didn’t, and the fifth ODI, what they wanted done I didn’t do,” Haider said. “That is why I did what seemed right to me and I came here. I can’t tell what kind of threats I received to the country because my family is still in Pakistan.”
When asked further about the nature of these threats and who they might have come from, Haider was unwilling and unable to reveal much more. “I am not accusing anyone of being a match-fixer. I only got one guy telling me that if you can’t do this or that, there will be problems, or fix the fourth of fifth ODI. I don’t want to say who it is, neither do I know so much about who it is. I have only played two-three ODIs.” Asked specifically if he thought players within the team were involved, he said, “I am not saying they are or are not. Only God knows that. But I did what I thought was better for everyone. I just didn’t want to sell my country, my mother. The country is like your mother and if you sell that you are nothing.”
Haider also confirmed that he took his passport from the team management on the pretext of buying a SIM card for his mobile and left on Monday morning. Questions have been raised by a number of former players and board officials themselves about why he didn’t approach the board first to report the threats, as is required by the anti-corruption code of conduct. “I felt if I told them, it would get worse for me and my family so I thought to come here. I know about British rules as I have been coming here for the last nine to ten years. They protect you.”
For him to say “I just didn’t want to sell my country, my mother. The country is like your mother and if you sell that you are nothing.” Brings me to tears, I for one, Salute this Pakistani to have had the gutts to stand up against corruption, many have and he too could have, easily succumbed to these match fixing threats for his own vested personal interest, but he didn’t
Many criticize him for not reporting this to his Cricket board, but considering the mess PCB is already in, I for one would also not trust them even for a moment, the decision he made must have been difficult, but I can totally understand the logic with which he had to choose a safe haven, even Dubai is not safe for these sharks, and in the UK he can have some degree of protection
I issue an appeal to all Pakistanis, join hands and we MUST protect and defend him and his family from any persecution. He refused to barter the name of Pakistan, why should he feel insecure to have done us proud. I also hope that such shinning examples must be celebrated and brought back into cricket, even if he has announced retirement, maybe this is just the moral uplifting that our team and our country needs, shinning examples of people who condemn corruption, and uphold the sporting spirit above anything else, he did so merely not in words but risked his career to save Pakistan
Zulqarnain ….. I SALUTE YOU, Pakistan Salutes you
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