That cricketer of the world…who used to lock his wife in the cupboard, put his career at stake to spend time with his wife.

New Delhi. When Saqlain Mushtaq used to move his fingers on the cricket field, the great batsmen of the world used to sweat. His ‘Doosra’ had added a new word to the dictionary of cricket. But during the 1999 World Cup, in the cold winds of England, Saqlain was playing a ‘googly’ outside the field, of which neither the management nor his captain had any idea. This story is no less than a spy film, in which on one side there was the pressure of the World Cup and on the other side there was a newly married couple.

Saqlain was married in December 1998. The color of the wedding mehendi had just become dark when the 1999 World Cup arrived. The good thing for Saqlain was that his wife was from London. Saqlain had a simple math of his own: sweat all day on the field, take wickets and spend relaxing moments with his wife in the evening. Everything was going well, but suddenly the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) issued an order to send all the players back home to their families immediately. The board believed that the presence of families was distracting the players’ attention. But it was difficult for Saqlain to accept this argument. He was in his element, the team was winning and he himself was in great form. He decided in his mind, ‘I will not follow this rule.’

Mission ‘Wardrobe’ game of hide and seek
Saqlain Mushtaq did not send his wife out of the hotel room. But now the challenge was that the team manager and coach used to come from time to time to inspect the rooms. Saqlain Mushtaq’s funniest ‘defensive’ game started from here. Whenever there was a knock at the door, Saqlain’s heart started beating loudly. He would immediately say to his wife, ‘Quickly, go inside the cupboard.’ His wife would sit crouching among the clothes in the cupboard and Saqlain would open the door with an innocent smile on his face. Be it coach Richard Pybus or other team officials, he would peek into the room, inquire about Saqlain’s well-being and then leave. He had not the slightest idea that inside the cupboard near which he was standing, the ‘better half’ of Pakistan’s star spinner was holding back her laughter.

When Azhar and Yusuf caught ‘match fixing’
This game of hide and seek continued for a few days, but things are not hidden in the cricket team. One evening, Saqlain’s teammates Azhar Mahmood and Mohammad Yusuf barged into his room. He had come to discuss the rules, but his eyes were searching for something in the room. Saqlain tried to avoid them, but Azhar and Yusuf felt something suspicious. He became suspicious that there was someone else in this room. Saqlain’s nervousness was clearly visible on his face. Finally, when friends insisted and the joking started, Saqlain had to give up. Smiling, he opened the cupboard door and asked his wife to come out. The scene was such that Azhar and Yusuf could not stop laughing. On one side stood the world’s most dangerous spinner and on the other side stood the cupboard, which for a few moments had become Saqlain’s ‘fort of love’.

Magic on the field and memories in the cupboard
The surprising thing is that despite this mental turmoil and ‘hide and seek’, there was no impact on Saqlain’s game. In this World Cup, he took a historic hat-trick against Zimbabwe. He was one of the most successful bowlers of Pakistan throughout the tournament. Years later, when Saqlain shared this incident in Raunak Kapoor’s show ‘Beyond the Field’, he laughed and said that he was a professional. Throughout the day he would fight for the team and in the evening he just wanted the company of his life partner.