‘PCB to give “fair chance” to Zulqarnain to explain his position before taking any action’

LAHORE - The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has said that it would give a ‘fair chance’ to runaway wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider to explain his position, before taking any disciplinary action against him for deserting the team midway through the series against South Africa in the UAE earlier this month.

“The board will decide on how to deal with the Zulqarnain issue on basis of the findings of the fact finding committee that has investigated the entire episode. But in any case the player will be given a fair chance to give his side of the story,” the Daily Times quoted PCB legal adviser Tafazzuil Rizvi, as saying on Friday.

Rizvi added that a lot of would depend on what the fact-finding committee would provide to the board.

“We will act on basis of the committee’s report. In legal terms there is no doubt that he (Zulqarnain) has committed a breach of his contract by leaving the team hotel without informing anyone,” Rizvi said.

“But even if we decide that there is enough ground to take disciplinary action against him we will not do it before sending him a notice and giving him a chance to respond to us,” he maintained, adding, “If he doesn’t respond then the board is legally in a position as his employer to take ex-parte action against him.”

The fact-finding committee is due to submit its report to the board within two or three days, according to its head and Pakistan team manager Intikhab Alam.

“Whatever information we have managed to collect on the incident, we will give it to the board in two or three days time. We have tried to get maximum information on this episode which was not good for Pakistan cricket,” Alam said.

Earlier this month, Zulqarnain had left the entire cricket world stunned when he fled from his team hotel in Dubai without informing anyone, hours before the fifth and final one-day international against South Africa.

Later that day, he showed up in London, where he is seeking temporary asylum, and revealed that he took the sudden decision after getting death threats from bookmakers. (ANI)