LAHORE: Pakistan wicket-keeper Zulqarnain Haider has offered to work with the International Cricket Council to eradicate the menace of match-fixing from the game. Haider said that any player involved in match-fixing should be banned for life and offered his complete help to end the corruption from cricket.
“If the International Cricket Council wants to eradicate corruption from the game, it should start tapping the telephonic conversations of suspected players and monitor their movements”, Pakistani wicket-keeper Zulqarnain Haider said.
“The best way is to record all the players’ phones and where they are going,” Haider said last night during a press conference in London. “I’ve heard back in Pakistan that a lot of people are involved in fixing, but I think the ICC is doing a good job,” he said.
Haider created headlines in world cricket earlier this week when he deserted the Pakistani team midway through the ODI series against South Africa in Dubai following death threats from match-fixers for refusing to fix a game. He fled to London where he sought temporary asylum and later retired from international cricket citing threats to his life as the reason.
The 24-year-old refused to accuse any of his team-mates of fixing matches. “I don’t want to blame anyone; I don’t want to be negative to anyone. Whether I play cricket or not, I just want cricket to be clear of fixing,” Haider said. Haider reiterated the threat made to him before the fourth ODI against South Africa in Dubai. “I was told if you work with us, we will give you a lot of money. If not, we will not select you again in cricket and, if you go back home, we will kill you and your family,” he said.
AFP adds: Haider admitted that he fled to London because he feared he and his family were in severe danger following an alleged match-fixing plot. Haider revealed he had a meeting at Pakistan’s High Commission in London on Wednesday and he said: “I wish they will protect my family because I have two daughters and a wife, so I want them to be safe.”
Haider also confirmed he had met the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption unit. “I just want cricket to be clear of any fixing and all bad things. The ICC’s doing well in these things,” he said. Explaining why he had chosen to flee Dubai rather than taking his concerns to the Pakistan Cricket Board, Haider said: “I didn’t want to explain all things to my management because if I told them, maybe it would create problems for my team-mates and my management.”
