Pakistani leg-spinner Danish Kaneria has expressed his frustration that he has been ignored by the Pakistan Cricket Board because he is a Hindu?
According to Daily Mail, he was quoted as saying, “Pakistan Cricket Board went out of its way for (Muhammad) Amir, but look what are they doing to me. I keep asking myself that am I being neglected because I am a Hindu? They don’t even want to talk to me,” Kaneria said. “I have to use the word discrimination again and again because of the treatment meted out to me by the PCB. People of Pakistan have given me a lot of love, but it is because of those few people in the PCB that I feel that I am being punished for being a player from the minority community in Pakistan.”
“I am really pained at the way PCB has handled my case. Salman Butt, Muhammad Amir and Mohammad Asif were caught red-handed while playing for Pakistan. They went to jail also, but PCB made an effort to bring them back in the fold. They didn’t do the same for me. Look how they got Amir back in international cricket. This is what pains me. They can support a criminal, but not me. My case was from domestic cricket. It is obvious that I will get that feeling of discrimination as I belong to the minority community,” he says.
“I have appealed through every forum in Pakistan. I gave 10 years of my life to the PCB, but they left me when I needed them the most. My case was crystal clear and there was no hard or soft evidence against me. England cricket board forced a ban on me and PCB didn’t say a word. ECB is dictating things to PCB. The ban put on me was absolutely baseless and allegations were made by someone who was himself a convict. It was just based on hearsay,” he added .
“I am still the fourth highest wicket-taker for Pakistan after Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Imran Khan. I could’ve broken their records too, but was stopped. PCB is responsible,” he rues.
In July 2013, PCB banned the player after he was found guilty of spot fixing while playing for English club Essex. The 35-year-old player has appealed thrice so far against his life ban. Earlier this year, it was reported that the leg-spinner had forwarded his plea to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in order to get one last hearing on his spot-fixing case.
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