After landing in London,Haider comes clean,quits Pakistan cricket

“My family is still getting threats. I have decided to retire because there is lot of pressure on me and I can’t take it,” Haider told Geo News from London after mysteriously fleeing from Dubai ahead of the fifth ODI against South Africa. “I will be sending a letter to the PCB to inform them about my decision to retire,” he said.

Haider fleeing to England has reportedly also left the ICC “disturbed” as the governing body feels the wicketkeeper has been targetted by “criminals behind betting operations”. “We are really concerned and disturbed by what has happened,he is clearly frightened or seriously worried and there is no suggestion that he is guilty of anything except producing a brilliant performance to help his team win a game,” a newspaper in London quoted an ICC source as saying.

“The really disgusting thing is that criminals behind betting operations have targeted players’ families in the past. The PCB is moving heaven and earth to try and find him and help him and his family,” the source added.

The young stumper,who hit the winning runs in the fourth ODI against South Africa on Sunday,met immigration officials at the Heathrow airport for close to five hours last night. “I understand there is a rule in Britain that if you are right and if you are not a criminal,then they always protect you,” he said.

Haider said he received a message asking him to be a part of a match-fixing conspiracy ahead of the fourth one-dayer but refused to reveal the identity of the person who approached him.

“I was approached by one person who asked me to fix the fourth and fifth match and there would be problem for me if I did not do it,” Haider said. “I do not want to say who is involved and who is not involved in the match fixing,” Haider said. “The country is like a mother and anyone who sells it cannot get anything in life. I did not want to sell my mother,I did not want to sell my country and I did what I thought was better.”

Haider took his passport from the team management after the fourth ODI on the pretext of buying a mobile connection but instead fled to London. “I did not do what I was asked to do in the fourth one-dayer and I also did not let it happen what was being asked to do,so this is the reason that I left the team and came here and I did what I felt better,” he added.

Security has been beefed up at Haider’s house in Lahore but said he continues to fear for his family’s safety. “I cannot say what kind of threats I have received as my family is still in Pakistan,” he said.

Adnan Akmal as replacement

Meanwhile,uncapped wicketkeeper batsman Adnan Akmal will replace Haider in the Pakistan squad for the two Tests against South Africa in Dubai and Abu Dhabi while Muhammad Hafeez will take the place of leg-spinner Danish Kaneria in the squad. Zulqarnain’s replacement Adnan is yet to represent the senior national team and will be the third of the Akmal brothers to play for Pakistan.

Incidentally,Kaneria was stopped from flying to Dubai to join the Test squad last week by the PCB even as the leg-spinner said that so far he had not been informed about the reasons behind the decision.