Former Pakistan wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider announces return to professional cricket

 

The 34-year-old retired from the game back in 2010

Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Zulqarnain Haider has announced that he is coming out of retirement.

The 34-year-old announced in 2010 that he was hanging up his boots after claims of being threatened.

After leading the Green Caps to one-wicket victory against South Africa in the fourth game of the five-match ODI series in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) back in 2014.

“The way my situation is right now, I am retiring from international cricket,” he was quoted saying by cricket website ESPNcricinfo back in 2010. “There is too much pressure on me, I have received threats, my family has received threats.”

The Lahore-born cricketer posted a video on his official YouTube channel that he is now coming out of reitrement.

“I had retired from the game due to some reasons,” he said. “But I have now decided to take my decision back. I will soon hold a press conference in which I will take about my return to the international team and domestic cricket.”

“I will render my services to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) as much as I can.”

The former Rawalpindi player went on to say that he is keen to make a place in the national side on the back of performance in domestic structure.

Zulfiqar, who played a key role in helping the Men in Green secure a crucial win against South Africa in the UAE, while speaking with a local news channel a decade ago, said that he sought “protection” in the UK after refusing to be influenced by people he would not name.

“The fourth ODI, the things I was told to do I didn’t, and the fifth ODI, what they wanted done I didn’t do,” Haider said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. “That is why I did what seemed right to me and I came here. I can’t tell what kind of threats I received to the country because my family is still in Pakistan.”

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