Danish Kaneria’s remark shows real face of Pakistan: Gautam Gambhir

“India gave so much respect to Mohammad Kaif, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel. In fact, Patel is my close friend. We always played as a team to make our country proud. But the reports coming in from Pakistan are really unfortunate,” he added.

The cricketer-turned-politician added that despite Kaneria playing 55-60 Tests for his country, he was being made to face such torture which is “really shameful”.

Gambhir said that if a sportsperson was treated in such a way, then “one can only imagine what Hindus, Sikhs and other minorities have to go through (in Pakistan)”.

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar on Thursday alleged that Danish Kaneria, the only Hindu player in the Pakistan team in the last decade, was treated unfairly by his teammates because of his faith.

Speaking on a cricket show titled ‘Game on Hai’, Akhtar said, “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.”

Responding to Akhtar’s remarks, Kaneria said, “Shoaib (Akhtar) has been a legend of the game. His words are also as blunt as his bowling. When I was playing I did not have the courage to speak on these matters but after Shoaib bhai’s comments, I do. He has always supported me and also Inzy bhai (Inzaman-ul-Haq), Mohammad Yusuf and Younis bhai.”

“Those who did not support me, I will make their names public soon. Having said that, I feel fortunate and honoured that I got to play for Pakistan,” he added.

(With PTI inputs)