On Wednesday (25th October), former Pakistani cricketer Danish Kaneria gave an interview to the TV news channel Aaj Tak detailing his struggles as a Hindu in the Pakistan cricket team. In this interview with journalist Sudhir Chaudhary, Danish Kaneria reiterated his old statements against former captain Shahid Afridi and other Pakistani cricketers.
Kaneria accused Pakistani cricketers of religious discrimination against him and of attempts to convert him to Islam. He also praised India, current Indian PM Narendra Modi, and emphasised his commitment to Sanatan Dharma.
Danish Kaneria said that he is a staunch Sanatani and he holds Dharma above all. Kaneria said, “First of all, for me, my faith in Sanatan Dharma is above everything. Nothing is above the Sanatan Dharma. Lord Ram is the inspiration of my life. Lord Ram says to raise your voice to uphold the Sanatan Dharma every time. I am doing nothing wrong. I am telling just those things which are happening with people here in Pakistan, and I will keep talking about those things. I will continue to point out the wrongdoings taking place here. There are so many cases which go unreported, and these things are happening wide open in front of everybody.”
Danish Kaneria added, “I am a Sanatani. My Dharma teaches me to raise my voice for a Hindu brother of mine and the Hindu community. If Bhagwan has given me the power to speak, I must speak for them. I would like it if everyone like me raised their voice. I will like it more if the Indian media raises a voice for this cause, because a wrong must clearly be called a wrong.”
Kaneria further said, “By the grace of Bhagwan, my career was going well and I was doing well. After Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Imran Khan, I am the fourth-highest wicket-taker for Pakistan. Inzamam-Ul-Haq is the only person who supported me as a captain, Shoaib Akhtar also revealed it. Others, including Shahid Afridi, have harassed me a lot. They would not dine with me. They would always talk of conversion, but my Dharma is everything for me.”
Explaining more about how he was implicated in a spot-fixing case, Danish Kaneria said, “Many big players in the Pakistani team used to ask me to convert to Islam, Shahid Afridi was the main one among those players. I was wrongfully trapped in a false allegation of spot-fixing. Some people are also talking about me accepting those allegations after 8 years. I should make it clear now in front of everyone. The only thing I accepted was that through Mervyn Westfield, I was introduced to a bookie named Anu Bhat when I was playing county cricket alongside him in an English county team.”
kaneria added, “Apart from that, they pressured me to accept everything. In fact, I was completely unaware of any details of the fixing thing. However, the other person involved in this scandal was jailed in England. According to a report by Justice Qayyum, he has said that certain people in Pakistan cricket will never be allowed to become big figures.”
Danish Kaneria accused the Pakistan Cricket Board of discriminating against him on religious grounds. He said, “I was never backed by our cricket board. Ejaz Bhat or Najam Sethi, nobody helped me, nobody supported me just because I am a Hindu. They knew very well that if I had played for a long time, I would have broken all the records. Once I enter the ground, no one can stop me from taking wickets. That was bound to happen, and they knew that I had the ability to break all those records.”
Detailing more on this religious discrimination, Danish Kaneria said, “Do you know a Hindu in the history of Pakistan who rose to higher posts or became the greatest of all in any field ever? India is the only country that has given opportunities to people from all backgrounds. I was so disappointed in those days. As if it was not enough, my father also passed away. After being away for 8 consecutive years, I did not have any job. They finished me, but I believed in Bhagwan who always inspired me to be truthful. So, I agreed to just the fact that I was introduced to a person – nothing more than that. I did this in the hope that I would get an opportunity again if I spoke the truth.”
Pointing out the difference between the treatment given to players in the Indian cricket team and those in the Pakistani cricket team, Danish Kaneria said, “Players like Sharjeel Khan, who were actually caught and convicted in spot-fixing, were all brought back by the PCB but they do not support Danish Kaneria because he is a Hindu. This is not the case with India. India is an integrated country and people living in India have a very good bond with each other. For example, when Mohammad Shami was heavily trolled during a tournament, it was Virat Kohli who stepped in his support first of all. Virat Kohli answered the trollers saying ‘he is my teammate’.”
Kaneria further said, “You cannot show one such example in the Pakistani Cricket Team where someone has leveled accusations against me and some other player in the team stood up to back me. Shoaib Akhtar is the only exception. In Indian cricket team, all players are treated equally. They get so much respect and love. It is not just about Shami. You take the examples of Siraj, Irfan Pathan, Yousuf Pathan, and even Mohammad Azaharuddin. Even Mohammad Azaharuddin’s ban was also lifted after a period.”
Danish Kaneria also accused the Pakistani cricketers of abusing Hindu deities. He said, “Whatever I have faced in the Pakistani Cricket Team is horrific. They hurled religious abuses at me. They abused my deities. They asked me to convert to Islam. All I was thinking was that I should perform better. I would think that only my performance can be the key to ensuring a place in the team. There were also so many players who were in the team despite not performing. On the other hand, people in India are educated, and cultured. They respect each other. On the other hand, Pakistani cricketers need to learn the lesson of ‘live and let others live too’.”
Danish Kaneria said that during Inzamam-Ul-Haq’s captaincy, he got some support to remain in the team which disappeared after Haq’s retirement. He said, “For most of the years of my career, I played under the captaincy of Inzamam-Ul-Haq. I would get conversion calls from fellow players even during his tenure but he would advise me to focus on my game and ignore these things. I would get a call every day to join for the morning Namaz. One day I strictly told them that I should not be called for the morning Namaz hereafter. After Inzamam retired, the discrimination increased. One day, I realised that they just wanted to expel me out of the team by hook or crook.”
On the current Pakistani cricket team offering Namaz on the ground, taking stands on political issues, and backing Hamas terrorists in Gaza, Danish Kaneria said, “This team is prioritising the religion. Secondly, they are into politics. Cricket is on the third spot in their priority list. In fact, cricket should have been their first priority and they are ignoring that. No wonder we are seeing such results. I don’t understand why they do a show-off by offering Namaz in front of all on the ground. They may just pray inside the dressing room for a while. We too believe in our deities. Do we all start pooja and aarti in the ground itself after taking a wicket? But they have a certain mindset. They want to show-off all these things. Virat Kohli does puja, doesn’t he? Doesn’t Rohit Sharma do puja? Doesn’t Shami offer Namaz? Doesn’t Siraj offer Namaz? They do all this, but not on the playground.”
On the Pakistani cricket team blaming BCCI and the Indian audience for the defeats in the World Cup, Danish Kaneria said, “Why do Pakistani cricketers want to show the world what they are? They should focus on cricket. They have a coach who asks why the ‘Dil Dil Pakistan’ song was not played instead of ‘Jai Shri Ram’. First of all, I would like to tell him what is meant by ‘Jai Shri Ram’. It is a greeting. People welcome you by saying it. They are not starting any jihad by saying ‘Allah Hu Akbar’.”
Explaining more on Jai Shri Ram, Danish Kaneria said, “All they are saying is that the path shown by Lord Ram is a good path and one should follow it. Glory to Lord Ram. It is the way people are greeting each other. It is not a call to fight. You are a coach, talk about cricket. You talk of ‘Dil Dil Pakistan’ in a press conference. You talk about the BCCI event. Was it a BCCI event in the games against Australia, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh? Pakistani cricket team should talk about cricket only. They should think why 8 players were dismissed for just 33 runs. They do other things just to keep their shops running.”
On getting citizenship in India, Danish Kaneria said, “I congratulate Narendra Modi Ji for the way he is working. He does fast-paced development. Recently, the Chandrayaan was also a grand success and I congratulate him for all these achievements. India’s economy is also on a very positive track. I have always said that it is not a question of nationality. If I am given Indian nationality, I would happily take it.”
Kaneria said, “Had I become a Muslim, I would not have faced this problem in my career. Maybe I would have become the captain of the Pakistani cricket team. Maybe I would have broken all the records of bowling from Pakistan, but converting to Islam just for the sake of this? I cannot think of it in the wildest of my dreams. It is impossible for me to degrade to this level.”
Talking more about his faith in Sanatan Dharma, Danish Kaneria said, “I am a hardcore Sanatani. I follow Sanatan Dharma. I love Sanatan Dharma and it is everything for me. It is okay if I don’t get any job. I will tell everyone that they should not compromise on Dharma. If there is Dharma, then there can be all other things in life. Without Dharma, one gets nothing. I was told so many things. I was promised so many things in exchange for conversion. All I told them was ‘Jai Shri Ram’.”
When asked if he wants to see Pakistan winning this World Cup or India becoming the champions, Danish Kaneria said, “It will be a big achievement for the Pakistani cricket team even if they get a spot in the top 4 teams, forget about becoming the champions. Right now they are relying on other teams to get in the top four. They are praying for some team’s victory and some other team’s defeat to get there. I don’t see them performing well even in the upcoming matches. They are yet to play against England which will be a pressure game. On the other hand, India is a very balanced team. They look rock solid and they are the favourite ones to win this world cup”
When asked about Danish Kaneria getting online attacks by Indians like Arfa Khanum Sherwani and a recent response by BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia, he said, “I think Indians who troll me are probably not honest to themselves and their religion. They should be honest to the party they represent. Their party works for Dharma with honesty. They should think before saying anything. They should think first about who are they targeting. They should have this much knowledge. I won’t comment on any of their internal political matters, but call me out if I am wrong. If I am not wrong, then you should not try to prove me wrong.”
He added, “They should understand that I am raising my voice for Dharma. You going against me looks very sad. People know the truth. They judge the things. I don’t pay attention to that. It can be his (Gaurav Bhatia’s) belief, but he should introspect. He should see that I am doing this for a cause, for Sanatan Dharma.”
Danish Kaneria was born on December 16, 1980, in Karachi, Pakistan. The leg spinner represented the Pakistani national cricket team in both Test and One Day International (ODI) matches. He made his Test debut on November 29, 2000, against England in Faisalabad, ultimately participating in 61 Test matches for Pakistan.
Throughout his Test career, he secured an impressive total of 261 wickets, with best figures of 7/77 in an innings and best match figures of 12/94. He claimed 15 five-wicket hauls and 2 ten-wicket hauls during his career.
In the One Day International (ODI) format, Kaneria played 18 matches, taking a total of 15 wickets, with his best bowling figures being 3/31 and an average of 39.80. While his ODI career was relatively limited, his performance in Test cricket solidified his reputation as a talented leg-spinner in the cricketing world.
