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Danish Kaneria was mistreated in Pakistan team for being a Hindu, alleges Shoaib Akhtar

WION Web Team
PakistanUpdated: Dec 27, 2019, 08:18 AM IST
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File photo courtesy: AFP, Zee News Network Photograph:(Others)

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Akhtar said Kaneria was never given due credit for his performances and he was constantly humiliated by his teammates.

Legendary pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar has alleged that the Pakistan team treated former leg-spin bowler Danish Kaneria badly because of his faith.

Shoaib Akhtar alleged that his teammate Danish Kaneria faced discrimination at the hands of a few Pakistani cricketers since he was a Hindu.

The team members were reluctant to even eat with him because he was a Hindu, he alleged during a cricket show.

Akhtar added that the Pakistan spinner was never given due credit for his performances and that he was constantly humiliated by his teammates.

"In my career, I fought with two people in the team when they started talking on regionalism. Things like 'who is from Karachi, Punjab or Peshawar', that used to infuriate me," Shoaib said during the show.

"So what if someone is a Hindu, he is doing well for the team. The same Hindu won the Test for us against England. If he is taking a bagful of wickets for Pakistan, he should play. We could not have won the series without Kaneria's effort but not many gave him credit for that," the former Pakistan pace bowler added.

Kaneria played in 61 Test matches for the country but was later banned by the ICC for his alleged role in spot-fixing.

Danish Kaneria is fourth on the list of bowlers with most Test wickets for Pakistan behind other fast bowling legends Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Imran Khan, the current prime minister of the country.