Pakistan batsman claims to be under black magic spell
What's the story
In a startling news, Pakistan's left-handed all-rounder Haris Sohail, who was part of the country's touring team in South Africa, has claimed that he was under the spell of black magic, according to media reports.
This was precisely the reason why he was forced to leave the tour after the first Test recently and return to his country.
Here's more on this.
Return
Haris didn't go to rehabilitation camp, but went home
According to Pakistan-based BOL News report, Haris, before returning home, had also shared his fear with the management.
They, however, refrained from disclosing Haris' claim to public, so as to not increase his mental stress.
Further, after Haris returned from South Africa, he didn't go to a rehabilitation camp, but headed straight to his hometown in Sialkot, citing that he was under black magic.
Information
Reports suggest Haris was ruled out due to knee injury
Pakistan has been having a tough time having lost the Test series after the first two matches. And, although Haris claimed to have left because he was under some spell, reports suggest that he was ruled out due to his gradually worsening knee injury.
Past cases
In 2015, Haris claimed ghost shook his bed in NZ
Notably, this isn't the first time Haris cited such superstitious reasons to return from a match.
In 2015, during Pakistan's tour of New Zealand, Sohail had changed his hotel room citing the presence of supernatural forces in his room.
He had claimed that a ghost shook his bed in his Christchurch hotel room, which got him so spooked that he wanted to change rooms.
Fever or ghost?
Out of fear, Haris also caught fever that night
Naveed Akram Cheema, Pakistan's team manager back then, told media that Sohail rang one of the coaching staff, who arrived at his room and found Haris visibly shaken.
Haris slept that night in the coach's room until he was moved to another.
Cheema revealed Haris also had a fever that time.
The management later tried to convince Haris against ghostly presence, but in vain.