Pak team “not really” affected by Haider’s ‘no-show’ in final ODI: Afridi

DUBAI - The Pakistan team was “not really” affected by the bizarre disappearance of wicketkeeper Zulqanain Haider on the morning before the fifth ODI against South Africa, limited-overs captain Shahid Afridi has said.

Afridi also expressed the hope that the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) could sort out the problems affecting the team.

In the fifth dayer in which Zulqarnain- fearing for his life- had pulled a ‘no-show,’ South Africa beat Pakistan by 57 runs to take the five-match ODI series 3-2.

“We are trying from the start to get the team back to shape before the World Cup but something or other is coming up,” Afridi said.

“I hope that ICC and PCB solves the problem and sort these things so we can work towards building a good team, and ensure that there are no such problems in every match,” he added.

Earlier, the wicketkeeper had quietly slipped out of the Grand Hyatt in Dubai on Monday morning and boarded a London-bound flight. The player had not even discussed his plans with any of his team officials or fellow teammates.

On the morning of the final ODI match against South Africa, a message on Haider’s Facebook wall read: “leaving Pakistan cricket because get bad msg fr 1 man fr lose the match in last game.” just hours before the final one-day international against South Africa in Dubai.

Announcing his sudden decision to bow out from international cricket, he told a news channel that he was receiving threats from an unknown person, and thus he decided to leave Dubai immediately and went to London, where he is seeking asylum. (ANI)