Who do you blame it on?

Zulqarnain Haider's recent discloure is the worst scandal to hit Pakistan.

For long the world of cricket has been, in equal measure, enthralled by the brilliance of the Pakistanis and despaired over their inconsistency. The cause of this schizophrenia may just have been revealed.

Zulqarnain Haider, 24, made a highly credible Test debut as wicketkeeper against England in August. His second innings 88 was noticed for its maturity; he had found out just before the match that his father suffered from hepatitis C. In the fourth match of the one-day international series against South Africa in Dubai, his unbeaten 19 took Pakistan to victory with one wicket in hand and one ball to spare and boosted his reputation.

In other countries, more so in India, such performances will mean name, fame, endorsements and eagerness to play more. Zulqarnain, instead, went missing from the team hotel on the morning of the fifth match. He had collected his passport from the team management on the pretext of buying a mobile phone SIM card and left Dubai for London. No one seemed to know his whereabouts until he resurfaced at the Heathrow, asking for some sort of protection in the UK. He revealed that he had received threats from unidentified people following the win in the fourth ODI against South Africa. It seems the same people had asked him to try and lose the match and offered him rewards for it.

Haider is not a saint. As part of Pakistan’s second-string team, he was briefly arrested for entering the United Arab Emirates carrying alcohol. He was later released without being charged. He has had disciplinary issues, though, admittedly, minor ones. There is little reason to believe that he is delusional.

The other prospect, that his account may be accurate, is frightening. This would be the worse disclosure in the match-fixing saga which has been rocking cricket for more than a decade. Inevitably, this worst of the scandals had to come out of Pakistan.

It is one thing to fall for the lure of the lucre, fall into the hands of bookies, and plumb the depths by playing a role in fixing matches. It is quite another to forsake a fledgling, promising career because you realise that your life is in danger if you do not agree to play ball with bookies.

That Haider chose to escape, while his family was still in Lahore, and ask the UK for protection shows how vulnerable a young player is to the betting mafia. The Pakistan cricket board will have to do a fair bit of sour searching to assess why Haider did not run to the administration — captain, coach, cricket board — at the first hint of a silhouetted figure in shadows (one presumes that’s how a bookie would look when approaching a player), or when he received threats.

In September, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Aamer, two of the best young bowlers in the world who had just demolished England, were found guilty of spot fixing (deliberately bowling no-balls for payment) and punished, along with Salman Butt, who was their captain. With Haider’s revelations, perhaps the world needs to take another look at them. Did they have an option?

(suveen.sinha@bsmail.in)