London, Aug 17 (IANS) Pakistan wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider will return home Wednesday with a fractured finger after being ruled out for the rest of the cricket Test series against England.
The lanky wicketkeeper, who seemed set to play in the last two Tests of the four-match series after scoring a fighting 88 on debut in Birmingham last week, said: ‘I’m very patriotic, I take great pride in playing for Pakistan and wearing the green cap. I have a taste for international cricket now and I want to establish myself in the Pakistan team.’
‘Injuries are part and parcel of the game, especially for a wicketkeeper and if it had been down to me, I would have played with a broken hand if my country needed me to. I would have played through the pain barrier,’ Zulqarnain was quoted as saying by pakpassion.net.
‘The injury actually occurred after the second Test match against Australia at Headingley and was aggravated when Stuart Broad threw the ball at me when I was batting. My natural instinct was to stop the ball from hitting me with my hand and unfortunately it hit the finger that I had already damaged,’ he said.
Zulqarnain said that he would work hard on his fitness in a bid to make a comeback in the three-Test series against South Africa in the UAE this October.
