Broad’s throw aggravated finger injury: Zulqarnain

LAHORE: Pakistan’s injured wicket-keeper Zulqarnain Haider has blamed England’s Stuart Broad for aggravating his finger injury that has ended his tour of England that still has two Tests, two Twenty20s and five One-Day Internationals remaining.

Haider, who top-scored for Pakistan in the second innings at Edgbaston, had the ball thrown at him by Broad after his follow-through that, as the batsman took evasive action, hit Haider’s hand. A subsequent x-ray showed a hairline fracture that ruled Haider out of the third Test starting tomorrow at The Oval and out of the remainder of the tour as well after just one appearance.

“Broad’s throw hit my right hand quite hard and that aggravated the injury that I had on my little finger,” Haider told The Express Tribune. “If you look at replays, it clearly shows that his throw hit my right hand before hitting my shoulder.”

Broad was fined 50 per cent of his match fee by the match referee Ranjan Madugalle for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct after he pleaded guilty but the fast-bowler, according to former Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar, often got away with his on-field antics due to his father Chris Broad, another match referee.

The fast-bowler was also involved in a ball-tampering row in a Test against South Africa where television cameras clearly showed the bowler stopping the ball with his spikes.

While there was no official complaint by the South African authorities, the referee’s failure to take action against England’s fast-bowler after the incident had also irked Gavaskar as well as former England captains Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan.

Haider was due to consult a specialist in London today after which the full extent of his injury was to be ascertained. He replaced the under-performing Kamran Akmal in the playing eleven for the Edgbaston Test that Pakistan lost by nine wickets.

While Haider’s form remained indifferent behind the stumps, his half-century in the second innings saved Pakistan from an innings defeat.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17^th, 2010.