Zulqarnain wants PCB to clear his 1.5-million-rupee dues

ISLAMABAD - Runaway Pakistani wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider, who stunned one and all by fleeing the team hotel in Dubai hours before the final one-day international against South Africa in November last year, has asked the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to clear his dues amounting to around 1.5 million rupees.

Zulqarnain said he had featured in two Twenty20s and four ODIs against South Africa in the UAE before leaving the team in November.

“Therefore, the PCB owes around Rs1.5 million to me which I dearly need, as I have been finding it difficult to meet my expenses in the UK,” the Daily Times quoted him, as saying to a TV channel on Saturday.

Zulqarnain also attended an important hearing of the British Home Department in London on Thursday pertaining to his asylum application in the UK.

“My interview at the Home office went very well, they asked about my security concerns and this is all I can share at this moment. I am hoping a verdict in my favour next week,” he said.

Sources close to Zulqarnain said at the hearing, the player had taken the plea that when the former Prime Minister of the country, late Benazir Bhutto, and more recently the Governor of Pakistan’s largest province, Punjab, Salman Taseer were not safe in Pakistan, who could guarantee his security after receiving threats from bookmakers.

“Zulqarnain has taken the plea that he does not feel secure enough to go back to Pakistan and that he is under so much stress that he is not even keeping regular contact with his family in Lahore for fear of exposing them to those making threats to him,” one source said.

He had earlier declared that he would “disclose to the whole world the names of those involved with bookies”.

When asked about his threats to expose the corrupt elements in Pakistan cricket, Zulqarnain maintained he could not do it until he got asylum in the UK.

“I am worried about my family’s security in Pakistan at the moment. Once they reach here (London), I will definitely unearth the corruption in Pakistan cricket,” he maintained.

Zulqarnain also claimed to have turned down lucrative offers from British tabloid ‘News of the World’ and others for giving them sensational stories.

“Not just the NOW, but a few Indian channels had also offered me a lot of money for their story, however I refused. Let me tell you that the offers were huge, but I turned them down,” he added. (ANI)