Ex-cricketer’s son commits suicide over non-selection

KARACHI: Mohammad Zaryab, son of former cricketer Amir Hanif, committed suicide after alleged heartbreak over non-selection in an Under-19 cricket team.

Zaryab was heart-broken after he was declared too old to be selected for the Under 19s (U-19) and hanged himself the previous day. The young cricketer was a first-year student at a college and Hanif’s oldest son.

According to Hanif, Zaryab had represented Karachi in an U-19 tournament in Lahore last month, from where he was sent home citing an ‘injury’. The teenager had resisted the move, claiming his injury was not serious enough to be sent home for.

“My son was pressurised, he was told he was over-age. The coaches’ behaviour towards him forced him (to kill himself),” said Hanif, as he appealed for “other such sons to be saved” from “such (non-cooperative) environment”.

The deceased’s funeral prayers will be offered today.

Amir Hanif represented Pakistan national cricket team in five ODIs during the 1990s.