WELLINGTON: The Pakistani left-hand middle-order batsman Haris Sohail was shifted to another room at the Rydges Latimer hotel in Christchurch after he complained of being shaken by a ghost in his previous room.
The 26-year-old Haris is part of the 15-member squad to present Pakistan in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. The team is currently in New Zealand to play two One-Day Internationals (ODIs) against the home side on January 31 and February 3 at Wellington and Napier respectively before it leaves for Australia for mega event.
Last week, Haris Sohail told the team management that he was woken up by his bed being shaken. The management tried to persuade the player the he might have witnessed a nightmare but Haris insisted there was a supernatural presence in his room.
The team manager Naveed Akram Cheema said that Haris Sohail was examined by the team doctor after his ghostly encounter and found to be in good health.
“He’s OK and he’s concentrating on cricket as he should be,” he said.
“He had a fever. We think it was the fever that caused it but the player still believes his bed was shaken by something and it was a supernatural something.”
Later on the request of team management, Haris Sohail was shifted to another room in the hotel.
But the management of the Rydges Latimer hotel declined the presence of any ghost on the premises.
There was “no active ghost”. “It’s hard to believe,” a spokesman for Rydges Latimer hotel said.
“They [Pakistan management] told me it was only a nightmare. I spoke with a team physiotherapist and other people on the team. He [Sohail] didn’t come to me but they wanted him to move rooms.”
“He’s been sleeping in another room for about two night now,” the spokesman added.