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Haider suspended by Pakistan Cricket Board

Zulqarnain Haider was suspended by the Pakistan Cricket Board on Wednesday for abandoning the team in the United Arab Emirates before a match and fleeing to London.

The 24-year-old wicketkeeper quit the Pakistan team in Dubai and flew to Britain on Monday, claiming he received threats and was offered money to lose matches against South Africa. After Haider left, Pakistan lost the fifth and deciding one-day international to lose the series.

The PCB said Haider violated the terms and conditions of his contract. It also said the board had been unable to contact the cricketer.

‘We have been trying to get in touch with him but unfortunately we have not established any link yet,’ PCB director of cricket operations Zakir Khan told Associated Press Television News. ‘What we have heard so far is from him, via press and electronic media. We will like to know what went wrong.’

In interviews with a Pakistani television station, Haider has made conflicting comments about retiring from cricket and seeking asylum in Britain.

The alleged threats and match-fixing allegations are the latest setback for a Pakistan team already weighed down by accusations that three players were involved in a betting scandal during a test in England in August.

‘Pakistan cricket will come out of this recent crisis that we had, and we will come out strong,’ Khan said.

Illegal betting on cricket matches is a multimillion dollar industry in South Asia. Betting syndicates stand to earn massive sums of money if they have ‘fixed’ the result of the game, or moments in it, by paying players. The syndicates have also reportedly threatened players and their families who do not go along with them.

Former test captain Imran Khan, an influential figure in the game and a politician, said he was disappointed with Haider.

‘It will be clear in the coming days what was behind this incident, but this is a shameful thing for our country,’ Imran Khan told GEO news channel.