Shoaib Akhtar opens up on treatment of Danish Kaneria based on his religion

[gazza619]

What is thing with ex cricketers and embarrassment for the country. Akhtar is slowly washing away all the good he did.

 

[Abdullah719]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Waqar Younis "I was in the squad when Danish Kaneria made his debut for Pakistan and captain in his second series. We all welcomed him like a brother, like a son, he was part of our family. I never saw any player or official treating him differently" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1211230890367602689?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 29, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Saj]

A former team-mate of Shoaib Akhtar's said this to me "he never made sense when he played, nowadays he is making even less sense".

 

[Hitman]

A former team-mate of Shoaib Akhtar's said this to me "he never made sense when he played, nowadays he is making even less sense".

Sums up most people's thoughts on Akhtar.

 

[Saj]

Also, Shoaib may not realise this, but he has probably made things worse for Danish Kaneria now, rather than helping him.

 

[Mainul]

Danish is the best test spinner Pakistan has ever produced. I don't think that this claim of shoib is a fact. When Danish used to play for Pakistan, the body language of other Pakistanis around him didn't look like different one.

 

[Ahmed4472]

Danish is the best test spinner Pakistan has ever produced. I don't think that this claim of shoib is a fact. When Danish used to play for Pakistan, the body language of other Pakistanis around him didn't look like different one.

He got the most test wickets for Pakistan as a spinner but his average was probably the worst among 200 plus wicket holders.

 

[Ahmed4472]

Akhtar should be taken to task by Govt as well as he spewed non-sense on a state run channel. Nauman Niaz should also be shamed and thrown out of PTV Sports.

Unless the duo can come out with the names of people who discriminated against Danish they should be shunned.

 

[Ahmed4472]

Also, Shoaib may not realise this, but he has probably made things worse for Danish Kaneria now, rather than helping him.

Does Shoaib Akhtar care for that? Answer is NO. He couldn’t speak up at the time when this was happening and now when the relations between Pakistan and India are at all time low he came out with this. With all the citizenship bill and related things going on in India, it’s an easy guess why he did this now. May have even pre-planned this with Dr. Nauman Niaz.

 

[Saj]

Does Shoaib Akhtar care for that? Answer is NO. He couldn’t speak up at the time when this was happening and now when the relations between Pakistan and India are at all time low he came out with this. With all the citizenship bill and related things going on in India, it’s an easy guess why he did this now. May have even pre-planned this with Dr. Nauman Niaz.

I get that, but people will be hating Kaneria even more now, due to Akhtar's antics. Something which may have escaped Akhtar.

 

[Ahmed4472]

I get that, but people will be hating Kaneria even more now, due to Akhtar's antics. Something which may have escaped Akhtar.

Yeah agree with that. He already had negativity around him because of spot fixing and now this.

 

[HGhazanfar]

I can tell you guys the only person on that team to say something so stupid is Afridi, interestingly Afridi has said Kaneria is a liar over these claims.

 

[MenInG]

KARACHI: Tainted ex Pakistan Test captain Salman Butt has expressed surprise at his one time team-mate Danish Kaneria's claim that he was humiliated for being a Hindu player after former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar raked up the controversy.

"I am surprised by Kaneria's comments. Because I was in the team from 2003 to 2010 and played a lot of matches with Kaneria and not once did I ever see anyone disrespecting or harassing him for being a Hindu," Butt said.

Last month, Akhtar sparked a furore when he said that Kaneria was humiliated by some players because he was a Hindu, was not given due credit and some even refused to eat food with him because of his faith.

Kaneria admitted that there were a "few players" who targeted him for being a Hindu during his time with the national team but he never felt the urge or the pressure to change his religion.

Butt, who served a five-year ban for spot-fixing, said every effort was made to ensure Kaneria had full freedom as his playing for Pakistan painted a very good image of Pakistan cricket.

"Kaneria being the only Hindu player in the side was a big plus for Pakistan cricket and in fact I know for a fact that the captains made a point to ensure that Kaneria was made to feel comfortable in the team," he said.

Butt said he never saw Kaneria feeling uncomfortable or upset over anything.

"No doubt, he is a top bowler and served us well, winning us many matches. But I was surprised when he seconded Shoaib Akhtar's comments on him being ill-treated in the team and did not deny them," said the former Test opener.

"If anything I would ask Shoaib and Danish to both name those players who they claim mistreated Danish," Butt said.

Pakistan's former manager and coach Haroon Rasheed also denied that Kaneria was ill-treated in the team because he was a Hindu.

"Nothing of that sort happened and I always ensured that religion was never made an issue in the team. Everyone was equal and treated fairly."

Akmal brothers, Kamran and Umar, who played with Kaneria in the Pakistan team, also denied there was any incident where the leg-spinner was targeted for being a Hindu or humiliated.

"In the Pakistan team, everyone is a Pakistan player. I don't recall a single time when anyone tried to ill-treat Kaneria because of his religion," Kamran said.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...asis-of-his-religion/articleshow/73144154.cms

 

[Green Patriot]

I get that, but people will be hating Kaneria even more now, due to Akhtar's antics. Something which may have escaped Akhtar.

If people hate on him, it will be because he seconded Akhtar.

Had he said clearly that i never felt discriminated and was always supported he would have not only not garnered any negativity rather would have been able to win hearts since a few good words about Pakistan would have won our awaam over easily.

 

[Saj]

If people hate on him, it will be because he seconded Akhtar.

Had he said clearly that i never felt discriminated and was always supported he would have not only not garnered any negativity rather would have been able to win hearts since a few good words about Pakistan would have won our awaam over easily.

Akhtar started all this. Kaneria could easily have said that Akhtar is talking rubbish.

 

[Savak]

Kaneria could not have played 61 test matches if captains had an issue with his religion. Mushtaq Ahmed was around at the time along with Imran Tahir and Ali Hussain Rizvi in domestic cricket and some can argue that Danish got one too many games.

 

[hitthestump]

This issue feels like it's blown over now. Kaneria talked big but nothing came out at the end of the day.

Youtube drama for views, let's move on.

 

[Slim]

This issue feels like it's blown over now. Kaneria talked big but nothing came out at the end of the day.

Youtube drama for views, let's move on.

This drama clearly shows that both Akhtar and Kaneria are shameless individuals and proper sell outs.

 

[andy0204]

So this drama is over.

 

[aasifwanis]

As a kashmiri we love Pakistan to extreme.
Shoaib Akhtar is definitely losing friends from Kashmir with his new job I.e to appease Indian's.

 

[Sidilicious]

So Kaneria is from the same school as mine and while I think we only had 2-3 overlapping years over the past couple of days I’ve talked to people in the know as to what’s the situation. So below are my conclusions based on what I’ve heard from mutual and second degree connections and also what I think has happened based on just my experience in Pakistan and Karachi.

I don’t think there was any blatant social ostracism. I’ve literally myself seen the Karachi boys including Danish hanging out together when I was a kid. What I can totally expect is some uneducated cricketer from a Punjab village passing a comment that a hindu shouldn’t be eating from same utensils as Sunni Muslims. One way or another this might have come back to danish and obviously it’s hurtful. But I’ve seen such comments being passed even in middle class households so it’s not hard at all to believe this happened.

However, I don’t think any of what I said above is the real issue.

The real issue is that Danish has a life ban and cannot do anything in cricket officially. He basically does not have any income source for a while. He literally is not allowed to enter any ground. So cannot be involved in an official capacity at any level or have any coaching jobs. This is how harsh a life ban. Even during their band the spot fixing trio could not enter an official cricket ground. Asides from this he has not been able to make a career in media. He got some gigs 4-5 years ago but either due to lack of being an interesting speaker or lack of connections or whatever other reason he was no able to make it a regular thing. To make matters worse Danish foolishly fought the spot fixing case and lost it. He spent almost entirety of his savings to fight that case. So for all intents and purposes he is broke. He is from a middle class background so won’t be on the street obv but his financial situation is very bad.

This is why I think he is going all out on this case now that it has gained limelight in the hope something may come off.

I mean I can kind of understand his point there too. He did not fix while playing for Pakistan whereas Amir did that. However Amir was welcomed back with open arms and the other two were also allowed to play domestically. So he feels he was hard done by that the PCB supported Amir and as proxy supported Asif and Butt since the case was the same whereas he was left alone to deal with what happened. And in the process went penniless.

However what he must understand and appreciate is that the life ban is from ECB and since they are linked to ICC the ban carries to official cricket everywhere. So in a way PCBs hands are tied. I personally don’t think the lack of support was due to his religion but more due to a mixture of ECB and ICC verdict of a life ban and Danish’s own lack of utility going forward.

A bit old, but I could not reply to this post on time as I only had access to my phone.

As you can see from my posts in this thread above 204 and 205 (http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...based-on-his-religion&p=10600653#post10600653) I completely agree with you.

A person from middle class and educated background would not generally indulge in such social practices (they can indulge in corruption, but that's a different discussion). So, yes I believe that there might have been social ostracism coming from players from working class or uneducated backgrounds, but not from an educated person from Karachi.

As for the fixing issue, I am with PCB here. He fixed and thus needs to be banned for life. They should have banned the trio too, but didnt do so for many reasons. But I doubt it was due to religion.

 

[Saj]

Still no names from Danish or Akhtar.

I doubt we will ever know who the alleged mystery abusive players were.

 

[Colorblind Genius]

Still no names from Danish or Akhtar.

I doubt we will ever know who the alleged mystery abusive players were.

Whoever was it, won't perhaps be known, but Danish Kaneria seem to have found a way to generate some income through his Youtube channel's viewership at the expense of defaming Pakistan in a very subtle way, which gave a boost to his popularity in India.

His wife looks pretty pleased about the number of subscriptions to their channel in their latest video yesterday.

From what I opine, Shoaib Akhtar has some sort of a mild narcissistic personality disorder.
He uttered those words to give a little self importance to his own self, not knowing that what route it would take?

And it's now a very interesting scenario. More like a double edge sword.

On one hand, we are (or at least I am) somewhat disappointed by Shoaib Akhtar and Danish Kaneria that they gave the likes of Gautham Gambir, a chance to open his mouth and bark like an animal to smear the entire Pakistan.

And on the other hand, a Pakistani (Danish Kaneria) has started to make income due to the clicks and subscriptions that come from India.

So the Indian manpower is used to squeeze funds out of google, that land into Pakistan.

 

[Saj]

Whoever was it, won't perhaps be known, but Danish Kaneria seem to have found a way to generate some income through his Youtube channel's viewership at the expense of defaming Pakistan in a very subtle way, which gave a boost to his popularity in India.

His wife looks pretty pleased about the number of subscriptions to their channel in their latest video yesterday.

From what I opine, Shoaib Akhtar has some sort of a mild narcissistic personality disorder.
He uttered those words to give a little self importance to his own self, not knowing that what route it would take?

And it's now a very interesting scenario. More like a double edge sword.

On one hand, we are (or at least I am) somewhat disappointed by Shoaib Akhtar and Danish Kaneria that they gave the likes of Gautham Gambir, a chance to open his mouth and bark like an animal to smear the entire Pakistan.

And on the other hand, a Pakistani (Danish Kaneria) has started to make income due to the clicks and subscriptions that come from India.

So the Indian manpower is used to squeeze funds out of google, that land into Pakistan.

Solid assessment of events regarding Messrs Akhtar and Kaneria.

 

[Abdullah719]

Comments from Waqar Younis:

"I think this whole matter is a useless one as I do not feel that there is one cricketer in Pakistan who will put down another based upon religion"

"In our dressing rooms we have had people from other religions; Not only did we have Kaneria, we had Mohammad Yousuf also who remains one of our best friends"

"This is sad, and its poor of some players to raise this issue and to highlight it for the sake of publicity"

"I do not think anything like this has happened, and I do not think Pakistanis will ever put down a person from a different religion like this"

"This does not happen in any team in the world, look at Moeen Ali and Rashid and how they are respected in their teams? When they win they open bottles of Champagne and make sure Moeen and Rashid have left that area - they respect religion in that way"

"Its the same for us Muslim (players) - we respect all religions and all this highlighting of this issue is sad and poor of some people"

 

[Ryw]

Abdul Razzaq breaks his silence on Danish Kaneria religious discrimination row

The whole of Pakistan cricket was left stunned and shocked when former speedster Shoaib Akhtar revealed that former leg-spinner Danish Kaneria was subjected to religious discrimination within the dressing room during his playing days.

Akhtar made this remark in December 2019, which sparked a huge debate across the cricketing world. Kaneria, who is a veteran of 61 Tests and 18 ODIs, also posted an emotional video from his official YouTube channel, slamming the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for sidelining him post the spot-fixing saga and opened up on the whole discrimination row.

While some of the former cricketers, who shared the dressing room with Kaneria, shared their views regarding the same, former all-rounder Abdul Razzaq has come up with his own side of the whole episode.

In a recent interaction, Razzaq told PakPassion.net, "To me, this whole matter seems to have been created out of thin air. There is no truth in what Kaneria asserted because if religion was an issue, then as a Hindu he would never have played for Pakistan.

He was always an integral part of the Pakistan side and to hold that stature on any side is a matter of honour for any player, regardless of what their background is. He was always respected on and off the field by all players, so I do not think there is any room for controversy regarding his religion and treatment in the Pakistan team," opined the 40-year-old.

Earlier, even former middle-order batsman Mohammad Yousuf had tarnished all such claims by Kaneria via his official Twitter handle. Later, Akhtar intervened and stated that his revelation was blown out of proportions, but maintained there were few players who didn't like Kaneria.

Razzaq also stressed that his comment on helping Hardik Pandya become a better player was all in good faith. He genuinely believes that Pandya is one for the future and can improve further in all departments.

Currently, the all-rounder is out of action due to injury and may get added in India's Test squad for the New Zealand series if he attains full fitness as per the team management.

https://www.timesnownews.com/sports...h-kaneria-religious-discrimination-row/543583

 

[Bilal7]

Kaneria was our #1 spinner for a long time, which goes against the whole 'Inzamam and Tableeghi Jamaat' hate that some people propagate.

There is no doubt that he had a few bad run-ins with some ignorant individuals but he was never oppressed. He would be respected more if he was a better player and did not get caught up in fixing. Saeed Ajmal and Yasir Shah were both better spinners than him, at their respective peaks.

 

[Abdullah719]

Javed Miandad:

"Someone said that Danish Kaneria was removed due to being Hindu, this is wrong. I knew him and Anil Dalpat, his kids also played. Didn't Mohammad Yousuf play cricket? So many Hindus and others played for Pakistan.

"Pakistan is the one country where you can't expect racism. We don't discriminate against people if they are Memons, Hindus, Punjabis, etc.

"Whoever doesn't get a chance says whatever they want to. Danish Kaneria shot himself in the foot by getting involved in this work. He got caught in England. A player in Essex county testified that he was provoked by him. They both got banned. If I ever see him, I will hold him by the ears and bring him in my channel and talk to him."

 

[chacha kashmiri]

Kaneria was our #1 spinner for a long time, which goes against the whole 'Inzamam and Tableeghi Jamaat' hate that some people propagate.

There is no doubt that he had a few bad run-ins with some ignorant individuals but he was never oppressed. He would be respected more if he was a better player and did not get caught up in fixing. Saeed Ajmal and Yasir Shah were both better spinners than him, at their respective peaks.

Yasir shah got a chance to play for peshawar purely because he was their only spinner
Danish Kaneria had his own blog on the psl that only about 3k people followed

Spot the difference

 

[Bhaijaan]

Dinesh bhai spoke up about the discrimination he faced as a Hindu in Pakistan despite being an international cricketer and their greatest ever test spin bowlers

https://twitter.com/x/status/1900043510860099956

 

[Major]

Kaneria lost his creadibility and he is just trying to pull a Azeem Rafiq. I loved it how @Mamoon was the first person to call out Azeem Rafiq as a fake and later it was proved aswell.

These people when they lose everything due to their own fault, they pull out the religion/race card.

 

[Snowflake]

When Indian media starts giving you airtime, it’s time to call BS on whatever you are saying.