PCB yet to receive any call from runaway wicketkeeper Zulqarnain

ISLAMABAD - Following runaway Pakistani wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider’s claim that the Pakistan Cricket Board was withholding his dues, the PCB has said it has not received any call from him.

Zulqarnain, who had stunned one and all by fleeing the team hotel in Dubai hours before the final one-day international against South Africa last year, recently said he had run out of money and was waiting for the board to clear his wages amounting to16,000 pounds.

However, an official PCB source said there had been no contact with Zulqarnain since the fact-finding committee of the board had compiled its report.

“The last time he spoke to the board was when the committee was preparing its report, since then he has made no effort to contact us,” the Daily Times quoted the source, as saying.

After fleeing to London, Zulqarnain had claimed that he had got death threats from a person who wanted him to fix matches, and subsequently sought asylum in the UK.

The source said that as far as the PCB was concerned, it was waiting to see what happened to his asylum application.

“We can’t do anything until he returns to Pakistan, then we will decide if we have to take any disciplinary action against him. We are not doing anything because we don’t want to make things difficult for him in London while his application is being considered,” the source added.

He also said that obviously, no payment could be made to Zulqarnain until his case was cleared. However, another source in the board noted that in an interview earlier this week, Zulqarnain had talked about his family joining him in London “in one or two weeks.”

“If his wife and children are going to join him, then obviously he is able to support them,” said the source. (ANI)