Former Pakistan skipper Inzamam ul Haq has come out to refute the claims of discrimination against anybody on the religious lines when he played for the national side. His comments have come out after Shoaib Akhtar claimed on a TV show that Danish Kaneria was discriminated by other players of the team because he is a Hindu.
Akhtar claimed that many players refused to share dining table with Kaneria. Refuting the claims, Inzamam said that he never felt anything as such when he was the skipper of the team. His views have been put out on twitter by a Pakistani sports journalist who interviewed him after Akhtar’s shocking revelation.
“The captain who Danish Kaneria played under the most was me and I never felt that there was any such thing in our team, that any player treats another player badly if he is a non-Muslim. I never noticed even a single example of any such thing in our team,” Inzamam was quoted as saying by the journalist.
After the news about discrimination spread in the international media, many former and current Pakistani cricketers spoke about the issue and one such person is former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad. He blasted former leg-spinner Kaneria, saying that he can claim anything for money, and it is surprising that people are believing a cricketer who has been banned for corruption in cricket. However, Miandad forgot that it was Shoaib Akhtar who made the revelation and not Danish Kaneria himself.
“What are they trying to achieve I don’t understand. But if you talk about Kaneria, he will say anything for money and he has no credibility left in cricket,” Miandad told PTI.
“How can you believe someone who is serving a life ban for corruption in cricket? Who let down his country? I was head coach of the Pakistan team in early 2000 and Kaneria was in the team and I don’t remember a single incident where there was ever any issue about his being a Hindu,” he added.
The former skipper also said that Kaneira would not have been a part of the team had the team and the country, in general, would have been discriminatory against religious minorities.
“Pakistan has given him so much recognition and he played for 10 years in Test cricket. Would this have been possible if there was any issue over his religion” Miandad added while blasting Kaneria?
Danish Kaneria has made an official comment on this and asked every person in the PCB along with Prime Minister Imran Khan to support him going ahead.
