Published 23:35 IST, December 28th 2019
Shahid Afridi reacts to Shoaib Akhtar and Danish Kaneria's discrimination claims
Former Pakistan cricket team skipper Shahid Afridi said that he never heard or came to know of anything as such throughout his association with Danish Kaneria
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Soon after Inzamam-ul-Haq broke his silence on Shoaib Akhtar's revelation of Danish Kaneria facing discrimination in the Pakistan cricket team for being Hindu, former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi also highlighted his take on the claims made by the former Pakistan players. As quoted by Pakistan journalist Asif Khan, Shahid Afridi said that he never heard or came to know of anything as such throughout his association with Danish Kaneria. This comes after Inzamam-ul-Haq downplayed the claims of discrimination by Danish Kaneria and Shoaib Akhtar.
- “never heard or came to know of any such thing in my entire association with Danish Kaneria at any level of cricket we played together”: Shahid Afridi on the recent controversy.
— Asif Khan (@mak_asif) December 27, 2019
Days after Shoaib Akhtar's big revelation about the Pakistan Cricket Team, in which he stated that former spinner Danish Kaneria was mistreated by the team for being Hindu, former Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq has finally broken his silence on the matter. Inzamam, who was one of the players who skippered the side during the playing days of Kaneria and Akhtar, refused to accept that there was any discrimination in the team.
'Pakistanis have big hearts'
Speaking to a Pakistani journalist, Inzamam-ul-Haq said that the captain that Kaneria played most under was himself and that he never felt there was any such thing in our team. "I never noticed even a single example of any such thing in our team," Inzamam said. Earlier, Danish Kaneria had stated that skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq had always supported him and put the onus of naming the players who practiced discrimination on former pacer Shoaib Akhtar. Meanwhile, Shoaib Akhtar had stated that the 'captain' would raise eyebrows about Kaneria eating with the team which puts the entire matter in a pool of speculation as no one has been named yet.
Furthermore, Inzamam-ul-Haq also said that he is not ready to accept that Pakistan players have such small hearts and would do a thing like this. "I think Pakistanis have big hearts and we can accept everyone in our hearts," said the former skipper. Haq also reminisced about the tours to Sharjah where Indian and Pakistani players would share the same hotel and he would often see players from both teams sitting in each other's rooms, joking around and eating together.
Shoaib Akhtar makes big revelation
Earlier on Thursday, citing examples of the mistreatment faced by Kaneria, Shoaib Akhtar claimed that he was even barred from picking up food from the same table as others because of his religion.
“The captain would raise eyebrows about him eating with us or taking food from the same table. I told him that you could be the captain but your conduct is disgraceful. This guy is taking so many wickets to win matches for us and you’re treating him like this,” he furiously said.
23:35 IST, December 28th 2019