Cricket
Shahid Afridi would provoke other players against me: Ex-Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria
This is the second time that the spin bowler has called out Shahid Afridi for his alleged mistreatment and harassment during his playing days
Pakistani cricketer Danish Kaneria has once again publicly stated claims of deliberate targeting and mistreatment during his playing days by fellow cricketer Shahid Afridi. The former county cricketer stated that Afridi would malign him and target him due to his religious beliefs. The spin bowler also praised former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar for revealing the true cause of Kaneria's targetted harassment on a public forum.
Kaneria revealed his feeling and thoughts on Afridi to IANS this week. "He didn't want me to be in the team. He was a liar, manipulator... because he's a characterless person. However, my focus was only on cricket and I used to ignore all these tactics. Shahid Afridi was the only person who would go to other players and provoke them against me. I was performing well and he was jealous of me. I am proud that I played for Pakistan. I was grateful,"
Kaneria endured a topsy turvy time in the Pakistan cricket team due to constantly being dropped to the bench despite great performances in test matches. During his career between 2000 and 2010, he took 261 test wickets in 61 matches. He is the 4th highest wicket-taker ever and the highest wicket-taking spinner for Pakistan.
Kaneria was banned from all forms of cricket for good after being caught in a spot-fixing scandal in 2009. He revealed that the allegations were false since he was never involved directly in the matter. "Some false allegations were levelled against me (of spot-fixing). My name was joined with the person involved in the case. He was a friend of other Pakistani cricketers as well, including Afridi. But I don't know why I was targeted. I just want to request the PCB to lift the ban so that I can do my work."
