After Shoaib Akhtar revealed that Pakistani players mistreated Danish Kaneria for being a Hindu, former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir called it a “shameful” act and criticised the neighbouring nation by saying that it shows their reality.
“This is the actual face of Pakistan. We had Mohammad Azharuddin as captain of our side and he captained us in 80-90 Test matches,” Gambhir told reporters as quoted by ANI.
“This shows the reality of Pakistan, they have a sportsman as their Prime Minister, still, people in their country have to go through this,” the southpaw said, adding, “Kaneria played 60 matches for Pakistan, and it is shameful.”
Prior to Gambhir, former India cricketer Madan Lal had also called the ill-treatment of Kaneria “very unfortunate”.
“It is very unfortunate if it has happened, as Kaneria has been one of the best spinners to come out of Pakistan. These things are not good to hear about,” the 1983 World Cup-winning player said, adding, “In India’s dressing room, players from different religions have represented our side, but no such thing has ever happened here.”
Notably, in a show titled “Game on Hai”, Akhtar revealed, “In my career, the number of times I have had to argue with people regarding the issues of Karachi, Punjab, Peshawar is outrageous. People used to ask questions like, ‘Why are you eating (with us) here?’ to Hindu players like Danish Kaneria.”
Kaneria, a veteran of 79 international matches, is fourth in the list of bowlers who have taken most Test wickets for Pakistan, behind only fast bowlers Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Imran Khan.
The leggie was handed a lifetime ban by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) after allegations of him being involved in match-fixing surfaced.