Religious discrimination, spot-fixing, and a Hindu cricketer in Pakistan… this is the story of Danish Kaneria.
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00:00This former Pakistani cricketer, who alleged religious discrimination in his team, is now
00:07waiting for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
00:09Danish Kaneria, a Pakistani Hindu, often made headlines in India for speaking about his
00:14Hindu identity in Pakistan.
00:24After his uncle, Anil Dalpat, he was the second Hindu to play cricket in the Pakistan team,
00:29Despite being one of the most successful test cricket players in the country, his religion
00:34often sparked controversy, especially after he alleged religious discrimination in the
00:39team.
00:40Danish was the highest wicket-taker in test matches in the team after Waseem Akram, Waqar
00:45Younus and Imran Khan.
00:47Danish, who took 261 wickets in 61 matches, said that his ODI career was possibly limited
00:54to 18 matches because of his religion.
00:57In an interview with Aaj Tak, he praised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that
01:02he himself was an ardent follower of Sanatan Dhan.
01:05He added that his religion was everything to him and it was something he would never
01:09compromise with.
01:10He also alleged during the interview that he was pressured to convert to Islam and added
01:16that he might even have become the captain of the Pakistan cricket team had he agreed
01:21to convert.
01:22He even said that some of his fellow teammates refused to eat with him because of his religion.
01:27Danish also called out cricket icon Shahid Afridi.
01:30In 2019, Pakistan's former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar supported Danish's allegations during
01:36a chat show and said he was a victim of religious discrimination in the team.
01:41But Inzamam Ul Haq, under whose captaincy Danish played the most, rejected these allegations.
01:47He said that he never felt that anyone in the team mistreated someone for not being
01:52a Muslim.
01:53Even the Pakistan cricket board distanced itself from the issue and said they weren't
01:57answerable for the allegations.
01:59Javed Miyadat, who was the Pakistan coach in the early 2000s, also raised questions
02:04on Danish's credibility by pointing out his involvement in spot-fixing.
02:09In the year 2000, Danish played his debut test match against England.
02:13In 2012, the England and Wales cricket board banned Danish for life for allegedly luring
02:19his Essex County teammates into spot-fixing.
02:22Danish responded that the Pakistan cricket board didn't help him in this matter.
02:27PML-N leader Ramesh Kumar raised Danish's case in the Pakistan National Assembly and
02:33said that because he was a Hindu, the PCB did not provide financial and legal assistance
02:40to him.