Pakistan has had only three prominent non-Muslim cricketers in its entire cricketing history:
- Danish Kaneria (Hindu) – A leg-spinner who represented the national team.
- Yousuf Youhana (Christian, later converted to Islam as Mohammad Yousuf) – One of Pakistan’s finest batters.
- Anil Dalpat (Hindu) – A wicketkeeper who played in the 1980s.
This is a shamefully low statistic, no matter how much some posters try to deflect or justify it.
That said, I believe blaming the Pakistan Super League (PSL) for this lack of diversity would be unfair. The league can only select from the talent available in the system. The real issue lies deeper—social biases and systemic discrimination—which may influence opportunities and selection processes at the grassroots level, such as cricket academies and domestic teams. As a result, the pipeline itself lacks prominent non-Muslim cricketers, making it unlikely for them to feature in PSL drafts.
My only beef (pun indented) is with those posters who defends such open discrimination but shed crocodile tears on Indian Muslim's who are flourishing everywhere, including in IPL.
Siraj Bhai, Shami Bhai, Khaleel Bhai, Shahrukh Bhai, Samad Bhai, Avesh Bhai, Umran Bhai...etc etc in IPL. Ufff so much Bhai chaara and love.
Give us also the same pleasure sometime to watch Kumar's and Sharma's playing in PSL.