‘I Was Told To Convert, The PCB Did Not Support Me’: Danish Kaneria Exposes Pakistan Cricket Team’s Communal Mindset

The downfall of Pakistan cricket is a case study of its own. Pakistan, once home to match-winners such as Wasim Akram, Saeed Anwar, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Saqlain Mushtaq, and others, is going through one of their darkest cricketing times. Pakistan crashed out of the group stages in two consecutive ICC tournaments. The ‘men in green’ crashed out of the group stage of the 2024 edition of the T20 World Cup, and they endured the same fate in the recently concluded Champions Trophy as well.

The Pakistan Cricket Board made a huge issue out of the Champions Trophy being played in the ‘Hybrid Model’, but on the contrary, they played only one home game, against New Zealand, which they lost. This led to the reduction in the ticket sales of the matches that were played in Pakistan. The PCB has endured losses of over INR 700 crores, and they only have themselves to blame.

Former Pakistan spinner, Danish Kaneria, sat down for an EXCLUSIVE Interview with the Republic Media Network and exposed the darkest secrets of the Pakistan cricket team. While speaking on the problems that lie within the PCB, Kaneria also revealed the communal mindset which exists in the Pakistan cricket team.

Danish Kaneria is the fourth highest wicket-taker for Pakistan in Test cricket. The ex-Pakistan legspinner has taken 261 Test wickets from 61 matches that he played. Kaneria was a regular player for Pakistan when Inzamam-Ul-Haq was leading the team.

Danish’s career ended after he was named in a match-fixing scandal in 2009 in connection with ‘match irregularities’. While speaking to Republic Media Network, Kaneria revealed that he was blamed for all the wrong reasons, and the Pakistan Cricket Board refused to help him. Kaneria also said that he was repeatedly asked to change his religion after 2009.

It went on from 2009. I used to mind my own religion, and they used to do their own. One of the players, you know which one I am talking about, he was always after me, and I didn’t want to fall into all of those things. I was the only Hindu playing for Pakistan. I played for so many years, performed well. I was in the team due to my performance. I shouldn’t have played if I was not performing. So many things happened. I was blamed for all the wrong things; false allegations were put on me. I tried to get help. I used to get life threats. I was in trauma; I was not supported by the PCB. They used to tell me to convert. I was the only Hindu, and I was scared.

During the same interview, Danish Kaneria was asked about Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s future in international cricket. Kaneria, without any doubts in his mind, said that both Kohli and Rohit have been the pillars of the Indian team, and their performances in the Champions Trophy clearly show that they have a lot of cricket left in them.