Zulqarnain Haider faces domestic ban after outburst

Pakistan's discarded wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider could be debarred from playing domestic cricket after his latest outburst against the national team stumper Kamran Akmal.

"The legal department in the board is having a look at Zulqarnain's message on his facebook account and his subsequent comments in the media on Kamran Akmal," a Pakistan Cricket Board source told PTI.

"In all likelihood, the board will be issuing a show cause notice to Haider through its disciplinary committee to explain his position even though he is not a contracted player with them," he said.

The source pointed out that when the board removed Haider's ban and allowed him to resume playing domestic cricket he was also put on a probation watchlist.

The PCB had also arranged for a sports psychologist to hold counselling sessions with Haider last month.

Umar Akmal, Ahmed Shahzad and Muhammad Aamir were the other players selected for the counselling sessions with Dr Maqbool Babri.

Haider in his latest outburst on Wednesday threatened to make startling revelations about corruption in the Pakistan team after claiming that Kamran was not cleared by the ICC for selection in the national team.

The selectors recalled Kamran for the series against Australia and the Twenty20 World Cup after seeking clearance from the board because of the suspicions surrounding his links to bookmakers.

Kamran made a comeback to the national team after last playing in the 2011 World Cup.

The interesting thing is that last year, when the disciplinary committee of the board fined and pardoned Haider they announced that he had no proof of any wrongdoing against any player or official of the PCB and had withdrawn all his allegations.

"One gets the feeling that Haider was under the impression that the selectors would consider him for the one-day series against Australia as Kamran was initially recalled only to the T20 squad," one official said.

Haider's outburst came two days after the selectors announced the one-day squad for the Australia series.

Haider, who made his Test debut and also played one-day matches for Pakistan in 2010, will now be asked to provide evidence of wrongdoing against Kamran or face action.
"The feeling is that he is still a loose cannon and can again cause harm to Pakistan cricket image," the source said.