Karachi: Pakistan’s former wicketkeeper-batsman Zulqarnain Haider has blamed Umar Akmal for his disappearing act during an ODI series against South Africa in 2010, saying he was threatened by the tainted player for not conniving with him to lose a match.
Zulqarnain claimed that he was forced to leave his team hotel in Dubai and fly out to London under mysterious circumstances after receiving threatening messages from his then team-mate Umar and a few others after he refused to under-perform in the third one-day international of the same series.
“I remember telling him to just do his job and carry the drinks. But later he (Umar) and some others directly threatened me and kept on badgering me so much that I came under psychological pressure and fear and flew to London without informing anyone,” he said in an interview.
Zulqarnain’s promising career ended following that episode in November 2010.
He said the three-year ban on Umar for not revealing spot-fixing approaches is too lenient.
