Pakistani cricketer Danish Kaneria has been in the news recently after it was disclosed by Shoaib Akhtar that several Pakistani players refused to have food with Kaneria just because he was a Hindu, a fact that Kaneria later revealed to be true.
On Thursday, Danish took to his Twitter account to answer a few questions from the fans. One user wrote, “Please Accept Islam.. Islam is gold. I know but that without Islam life is nothing. Your life a death people. Please accept this Gold. And Say to Kalma Sharif. Thanks.”
Please Accept Islam.. Islam is gold. I know but that without Islam life is nothing. Your life a death people. Please accept this Gold. And Say to Kalma Sharif. Thanks
— Amna Gull (@FarhanM82583651) January 30, 2020
To this, the 39-year-old replied, “Many people like you tried to change my religion, but did not succeed.”
Many people like you tried to change my religion, but did not succeed. https://t.co/p260TxmFUL
— Danish Kaneria (@DanishKaneria61) January 30, 2020
Speaking on a Pakistani talk-show, Akhtar had said, “I used to get livid when anyone was discriminated based on region or religion. A Hindu born in Pakistan is entitled to represent his country. When that Hindu (Kaneria) won us the Test series against England (in 2005), I chided my team-mates for mistreating him.”
The 39-year-old Kaneria, who played 61 Tests for Pakistan, is the second Hindu to feature in the Pakistani cricket team after Anil Dalpat.
Reacting to Akhtar’s statement, Kaneria agreed that he was mistreated by his teammates in the Pakistan cricket team. Kaneria said that Akhtar told the truth. Kaneria added that he’ll reveal names of players who didn’t like to talk to him as he was a Hindu. He said that he didn’t dare to speak on it, but now he will.
Kaneria, in October 2018, was banned for life from any form of cricket under the jurisdiction of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) after being found guilty of corruption by a disciplinary panel concerning a spot-fixing case.