Absentee Zulqarnain to return Pakistan

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KARACHI: Former Pakistan wicket-keeper Zulqarnain Haider, who fled to London last year citing death threats from match-fixers, has said he will return home and cancel his application for asylum in Britain.

Zulqarnain was reassured by a meeting with Pakistani interior minister Rehman Malik in London last week, and will seek to resume his cricket career, he said.

"After meeting with (the) interior minister and getting assurance of my and my family's safety in Pakistan, I have decided to return home on April 24," Zulqarnain, 24, told Pakistani private TV channels GEO and others from London.

"After getting this assurance there is no need for me to continue with my asylum application, which I will withdraw," he said late Saturday.

Zulqarnain fled the team hotel in Dubai on the morning of the fifth and final one-day international against South Africa on November 8, saying he had received death threats from unidentified people seeking to draw him into match-fixing.

After flying into London, Zulqarnain sought asylum in Britain and said he was retiring from international cricket.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) terminated his contract and formed a committee to establish the facts surrounding his disappearance, which described him as "mentally ill".

Zulqarnain said Saturday he has now contacted the PCB and wants to resume his international career.

Zulqarnain made a successful Test debut in England last year, scoring a brilliant 88 in the second innings to help Pakistan avoid follow-on. He also played four one-day and three Twenty20 internationals for Pakistan.