Pakistan former Wicket Keeper Zulqarnain wants to make a comeback in cricket

His international career was just one Test old when Zulqarnain Haider retired while in hiding in London and the Pakistan wicketkeeper, who has received death threats from match-fixers, wants to return to the big stage now that he is back in his country.

"I may be losing valuable time by not playing cricket but I will stage a comeback," said the 25-year-old, who returned to Pakistan earlier this week after being in London for five months citing death threats from match-fixers.

"My cricket has already suffered a lot and I miss playing as I had worked very hard to get into the national side," he added.

Besides the lone Test, the promising keeper-batsman had played just four ODIs and three Twenty20s when he announced his retirement last November while in London.

Zulqarnain said at the beginning of his career, he lost his mother but continued playing because of his love for the sport.

Zulqarnain Haider

"You can understand what this sport means to me so imagine why I decided to go to London while in the national team," he said.

Zulqarnain reached his hometown Lahore on Friday and disclosed that the the Pakistan Cricket Board and the ICC are conducting an inquiry into the corruption in game.

"The PCB and ICC are conducting their own inquiries and I am confident those involved in cricket corruption would soon be known," he told the media on reaching.

Zulqarnain insisted that he had taken the decision to leave the team hotel last November after giving it a lot of thought.

"If I had not done what I did then I would not be in a position to say today what I am saying today," he said.

Zulqarnain fled the team hotel last year during a one-day series in Dubai against South Africa and after reaching London, said he had been threatened by an unknown person for not cooperating in fixing the series.

Wicket keeper Zulqarnain

The keeper said he was delighted to learn that the police had busted a gang of bookmakers in Sialkot and some of them had confessed to being involved in making him threatening calls.

Zulqarnain withdrew his application for asylum in England only after being reassured of his security by Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik.

"I really don't know why I was targetted by the bookmakers. But I think the stance I took against corruption is equally important as playing for Pakistan," he said.

Zulqarnain Haider in Airport

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Afghanistanto be the first team to play International Cricket in Pakistan after Lahore Attack!!!!

Afghanistan´s cricket team will become the first foreign national side to play in Pakistan, two years after internationals matches were suspended over security fears, an official said Saturday.

International cricket has been suspended in Pakistan since March 2009, when gunmen attacked a convoy carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team in the eastern city of Lahore

Afghanistan National cricket team

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"Afghanistan will send its national team to Pakistan in July and play the Pakistan ´A´ team, and hopefully this will benefit our team," Naseem Ullah Danish, chief executive of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, told AFP.


Danish met Pakistan Cricket Board officials in Lahore on Friday where they agreed to play a three-match one-day series, with games in Lahore, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi.


Five Afghan regional teams and their under-19 string are playing their domestic matches in the Pakistani border town of Peshawar, as their main grounds are being renovated.


Danish hoped Pakistan´s second XI will also play in Afghanistan later this year.


"We have also invited the Pakistan ´A´ team to Afghanistan for the inaugural match in Nangarhar where we have almost completed an international stadium," he said.


Since many Afghan players learnt their cricket in Pakistan they owe a great deal to the neighbouring country, Danish said.


"Pakistan has always been helpful to us and have helped us reach this far in international cricket," he said.

Logo of Afghanistan Cricket Board

Logo of Pakistan cricket board

Most of the Afghan national team learnt the game as refugees in Pakistani camps after Soviet troops invaded their country in 1979.


Afghanistan won the Inter-Continental Cup and the International Cricket Council´s divisions five to one in the last two years, earning ICC one-day status and qualifying for the World Twenty20 held in the West Indies last year.


International teams were reluctant to tour Pakistan even before the Lahore attack, and the troubled country has since had to play its home matches at neutral venues in England and the United Arab Emirates.


The attack, which left eight people dead and wounded seven Sri Lankan players and their assistant coach, forced the ICC to strip Pakistan of its share of World Cup 2011 matches.


But Danish said security in Pakistan would not be an issue for his team.


"Security is not an issue and by playing in Pakistan we want to send out a positive message to the world and hope that teams come to Pakistan and play here," he said.

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Indian Cricketer Zaheer Khan Getting married with Actress Isha Sharvani Soon!!!

 Zaheer Khan & Isha Sharvani. 

Here’s some bad news for all those girls who have been dreaming of getting married to Indian cricket’s bowling super star Zaheer Khan. The handsome cricketer, who was the leading wicket taker in the World Cup tournament and now playing Indian Premier League for The Royal Challengers Bangalore , has finally decided to bowl a maiden on his personal front!

Future pair

According to the sources, Zaheer’s parents are keen to see their son entering matrimony, and are in no mood to let him cling on to his single status. And the lucky lady to turn his bride is none but his long time girlfriend Isha Sharvani. The duo met sometime in 2005 during an event that Zaheer Khan stumbled upon Isha Sharvani. Actually, Isha, a Bollywood actress was performing for at an event when Team India was to leave for the Australian tour. Since then, they happened to meet each other and had been in constant company with each other. However, the two decided to call it quits following certain differences. But as they say, true love never dies, the two lovebirds reconciled only to strengthen their bond even further. 

Isha Sharvani. 

Isha Sharvani was born in Gujarat. Her mother is the famous dancer Daksha Seth, a Gujarati, while her father Devissaro is an Australian musician, a composer and photographer. Because of her culturally rich background, Isha has lived in Ahmedabad, Delhi, Orissa, Vrindavan and Bangalore.

Zaheer Khan

 Her family now stays in Thiruvananthapuram, where her parents have founded an AARTI - The Academy for Art Research, Training and Innovation.Isha began training in dance at the age of seven, learning Kathak, Chhau and the martial art of Kalaripayattu and began her Bollywood career with Subhash Ghai’s ‘Kisna’ opposite Vivek Oberoi did not deny this news when contacted by a tabloid. Nonetheless, she preferred to keep it simple by saying, “I really don’t want to comment on this.”

Isha Sharvani 

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IPL Season 4 to cick off from today i.e. 8th of March !! Watch it live and get updates!!!!

 After the grand success of ICC World cup 2011 in India, Srilanka & Bangladesh, another cricket fever, the fourth edition of much anticipated Indian Premier League will start on Friday April 8 with 10 teams to feature this season.The two inclusions in the league are Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Pune Warriors. The opening match will be played between defending champion Chennai Super Kings, who will lead by Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kolkata Knight Riders who will have the new skipper this time i.e. Gautam Gambhir.

The twenty20 cricket has changed the way cricket is watched and played.Initiated by Board of cricket council of India (BCCI) the IPL is now one of the most successful cricketing event till date.According to global sports salaries review, IPL is the second highest-paid league, based on first-team salaries on a pro rata basis, second only to the NBA.

The fourth season of IPL is going to air on April 08 2011 and here is the list of participating teams and other realated information

Franchise	City	Inception	Owner(s)	Captain	Coach
Mumbai Indians	Mumbai	2008	Mukesh Ambani(Owner of Reliance Industries)	Sachin Tendulkar	Robin Singh
Royal Challengers Bangalore	Bangalore	2008	Vijay Mallya (UB Group)	Daniel Vettori	Ray Jennings
Deccan Chargers	Hyderabad	2008	Deccan Chroniclegroup	Kumar Sangakkara	Darren Lehmann
Chennai Super Kings	Chennai	2008	India Cements(N.Srinivasan)	Mahendra Singh Dhoni	Stephen Fleming
Delhi Daredevils	New Delhi	2008	GMR Group	Virender Sehwag	Greg Shipperd
Kings XI Punjab	Chandigarh	2008	Ness Wadia, Preity Zinta, Dabur, Apeejay Surendera Group	Adam Gilchrist	Michael Bevan
Kolkata Knight Riders	Kolkata	2008	Red Chillies Entertainment (Shah Rukh Khan)	Gautam Gambhir	Dav Whatmore
Rajasthan Royals	Jaipur	2008	Emerging Media (Lachlan Murdoch), Shilpa Shetty, Raj Kundra	Shane Warne	Shane Warne
Pune Warriors India	Pune	2011	Sahara	Yuvraj Singh	Geoff Marsh
Kochi Tuskers Kerala	Kochi	2011	Kochi Cricket Private Limited	Mahela Jayawardene	Geoff Lawson

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India vs pakistan semi-final icc cricket world cup 2011-amazing-stats

 INDIA AND Pakistan, the two cricket crazy nations where cricket is like a religion, will meet in the second semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali on Wednesday, March 30.

 An India vs Pakistan semi-final match of the World Cup 2011 will be the fifth encounter in a Cricket World Cup between the neighbouring countries since 1992 Cricket World Cup.

However, neither team has met in the semi-final or final of any of the previous World Cup matches. India has never lost to Pakistan in the Cricket World Cup so far.
In their first meet at Sydney Cricket Ground on March 4, 1992, during the 16th match of the Benson & Hedges World Cup, India won by 43 runs. In that match Sachin Tendulkar was named man-of-the-match for his all-round performance. He scored 54 runs and got the wicket of the dangerous left-handed batsman Aamer Sohail.
Both teams met for the second time in the second quarter final match of the Wills World Cup 1996 played at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore. India won that match by 39 runs and reached the semi final. Indian opener Navjot Sidhu scored 96 runs and Ajay Jadeja scored quick 45 runs in 25 balls in the last overs of the inning. Venkatesh Prasad and Anil Kumble took three wickets each. Sidhu was announced man-of-the-match.
ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 semi finalist India and Pakistan met for the third time in the Super Sixes of the ICC World Cup 1999 at Old Trafford, Manchester. On that match India defeated Pakistan India by 47 runs. In that match Rahul Dravid and Mohammad Azharuddin played fifty-plus innings. Fast bowler Venkatesh Prasad was declared man-of-the-match because he ensured that five Pakistani batsmen went back to the pavilion.


For the fourth time, two arch rivals India and Pakistan met at SuperSport Park in Centurion, South Africa during the pool 'A' match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003. With a quick fire knock by Sachin Tendulkar and a brilliant 50 by Yuvraj Singh, India won the match by six wickets. Sachin Tendulkar, who scored 98 runs, was awarded with the man-of-the-match.

In all the four previous ICC Cricket World Cup matches between India and Pakistan, the team that has won the toss, has decided to bat first. Out of the four matches, Indian captains have won the toss three times.

There are still five days to go for the India vs Pakistan ICC World Cup 2011 semi final match, but already there's an air of nervous excitement in the air..

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World Cup 2011 India vs Pakistan SemiFinal Match is Fix

According to an indian channel CNEB it is revealed that india pakistan ICC semi final match is fixed.. for more details watch the video and get the result!!!

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Pakistan Outclass west Indies to reach the semifinal of ICC world cup 2011!!!

Pakistan´s cricketers, played brilliantly well to knock out disorganized West Indies.  to enter into the semi-finals of ICC world cup 2011 on Wednesday with a 10-wicket demolition.

Charismatic captain Shahid Afridi took 4-30to inspire his team, as West Indies crumbled to an embarrassing 112 all out -- their third lowest World Cup total -- in the 44th over of their quarter-final in Dhaka.

Leg-spinner Afridi took his tournament wickets tally to 21 while off-spinners Mohammad Hafeez and Saeed Ajmal chipped in with two each as the West Indies collapsed after electing to bat at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium. 

 Viewers present in the stadium after early elimination of local boys from the world cup again become disappointed as they can’t watch the competitive match as expected. Veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul was the only batsman  who shows some resisitance against Pakistani bowling attack. Hafeez, with an unbeaten 61, and Kamran Akmal, with 47 not out, then saw Pakistan into their first semi-final since 1999, reaching their target with more than 29 overs to spare. "This is a great gift to give the nation on Pakistan Day," said Afridi.
"We tried to stick to our plans and the boys have done a great job doing that. These were great conditions for spin if you landed it on a length."

Captain Sahid Afridi

West Indies skipper Darren Sammy, whose team have now lost 19 successive times to a top side, admitted batting had let the side down.

"We definitely did not have enough runs on the board. We didn´t counter their bowling well, and we fell well short. We lost wickets in clusters in spin throughout the tournament, and today was no different," said Sammy.

Pakistan team celebrating their wicket

The West Indies were reduced to 71-8 before a 40-run stand between Kemar Roach and Chanderpaul helped the former champions surpass their lowest World Cup total of 93 against Kenya in Pune in 1996.

 Viewers from both India and Pakistan are now excited to see the most waited match if India beat Australia in second quarterfinal match in ahemadabad  tomorrow.

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Knock Out Round of ICC world cup 2011 to begin from 23rd March 2011, Watch it live !!!!

Though some unexpected result was seen in the league round of ICC world cup 2011, teams that reached to the quarterfinal were the teams expected by most of the cricket fans. Real countdown of the world cup will begin from March 23, 2011. After the completion of league round Pakistan, Srilanka Australia and Newzland are in the knock out round round from group A, while South Africa, India, England and West Indies enters the knock out round from the group B. Now the real count down of the world cup begins with the knock out competition of top eight countries in cricket. The fixture of the quarterfinal has been given below. So don’t forget to watch the live matches.

Points Table at Group Stage:

Groups for the 2011 World Cup

Group A - Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Canada.

Group B - India, South Africa, England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland, Netherlands.

Teams	P	W	L	NR	T	Points	NRR
Pakistan	6	5	1	0	0	10	+0.758
Sri Lanka	6	4	1	1	0	9	+2.582
Australia	6	4	1	1	0	9	+1.693
New Zealand	6	4	2	0	0	8	+1.135
Zimbabwe	6	2	4	0	0	4	+0.030
Canada	6	1	5	0	0	2	-1.987
Kenya	6	0	6	0	0	0	-3.042

Group B

Teams	P	W	L	NR	T	Points	NRR
South Africa	6	5	1	0	0	10	+2.026
India	6	4	1	0	1	9	+0.90
England	6	3	2	0	1	7	+0.072
West Indies	6	3	3	0	0	6	+1.066
Bangladesh	6	3	3	0	0	6	-1.361
Ireland	6	2	4	0	0	4	-0.696
Netherlands	6	0	6	0	0	0	-2.045

Fixture of the Quarterfinals match of ICC world cup 2011:

March 23: - Pakistan Vs West Indies at Dhaka 14:00 IST
March 24: - Sri Lanka Vs England at Ahmadabad 14:30 IST
March 25: - Australia Vs India at Dhaka 14:00 IST
March 26: - South Africa Vs New Zealand at Colombo 14:30 IST

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