Srinagar, May 16: Former Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria has claimed that Shahid Afridi discriminated against him during his playing days.
Kaneria was only second Hindu cricketer to play for Pakistan. The spinner said Afridi was always against him when they played together.
“He was always against me, when we were playing for the same department in domestic cricket or playing me in ODIs. If one person is always against you and you are in that situation, what other reason would think other than [religion]?,” Kaneria was quoted as saying by PTI.
The cricketer said he could have played more limited overs cricket if Afridi wasn’t against him.
“I could not play more ODIs because of him and he also treated me unfairly when we used to play for the same department (in domestic cricket), he was the captain. He used to keep me out of the side and often he would do the same in ODIs without any reason. He used to support others but not me. Thanks to almighty, I still went on to play a lot for Pakistan and I could not be more proud of that,” he said.
Kaneria further stated that Afridi also being a leg-spinner was another reason.
“I was a leg spinner and so was [Afridi]. That was another reason,” Kaneria said.
“He was a big star and playing for Pakistan anyway and to treat me like that, I could not understand why. They used to say two spinners can’t play in the eleven. They used to say my fielding was an issue in limited-overs cricket. You tell me who were the supremely fit leaders at that time? There were only one or two good fielders. Pakistan was never known for fielding anyway. When not playing international cricket, he used to come back and drop me from the departmental team.”