Published 11:17 IST, December 29th 2019
Shoaib Akhtar squeamish on naming Kaneria's discriminators, says '2020 isn't 1920'
Two days after he dropped a massive bombshell of a controversy, Shoaib Akhtar has broken his silence on the Danish Kaneria row and has slammed 'people'
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Two days after he dropped a massive bombshell of a controversy, Shoaib Akhtar has broken his silence on the Danish Kaneria row and has slammed 'people' for politicizing the issue. Former Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar made a staggering revelation during a chat show, claiming that Danish Kaneria was mistreated by his team-mates by virtue of his religion. The controversy picked up storm and got strong reactions from former Pakistan players, including then skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Javed Miandad and many more.
Shoaib Akhtar slams 'people for politicizing' Kaneria's row
Shoaib Akhtar took to his YouTube channel to address his fans via a video about the Kaneria controversy. Speaking for the first time after making the revelation, Akhtar revealed that he had been calmly absorbing all arguments and statements made about the row and said that there were such players around the world who passed racist comments. Akhtar slammed 'people's' move to politicize the issue and drag in religion and took a jibe at them, saying that the world was heading into 2020 and not 1920 when religion can be used to kick-start rows. Akhtar reiterated that he stood by the statements he made about Danish Kaneria and said that he did not feel whatever he did was wrong and that he had snubbed the guys who had made the statement.
Danish Kaneria makes big claim
Former Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria, who has been in the limelight for a while now after Shoaib Akhtar revealed that the spinner was discriminated by the Pakistan players on the grounds of his religious beliefs released a video on his YouTube channel on Saturday. In the video released, Kaneria alleged that the person who got him into the spot-fixing scandal for which he was found guilty was introduced to him by officials of the Pakistan Cricket Board. Furthermore, Kaneria added that the entire Pakistan team knew the person who spot-fixed matches and he was also invited on official tours to Pakistan by the PCB. Kaneria was charged by the England Cricket Board (ECB) in April 2012 for "alleged breaches of anti-corruption directives" after he was accused of applying "pressure" on Westfield to underperform for money in the 40 over match between Essex and Durham in February 2009. In October 2018, Kaneria finally pleaded guilty after six years of denial.
In the video released by Danish Kaneria on Saturday, he said, "I have always been portrayed from the wrong angle. When people have the opportunity to speak the truth, they do not, they twist facts and tell. I am telling you the reality today. In my case, the people who introduced me to the person, who were they? My case is open to all."
"The entire Pakistan Team knew that person (Spot-Fixer) and so did the officials. That person also kept coming to Pakistan on official tours. He was invited by the PCB. I never knew that person personally. I was introduced to him by stating that both of us belong to the same religion."
"Why doesn't anyone talk about this? Why don't they speak the truth? I have played my entire cricket with utter honesty. I have played with hard work and played for Pakistan for 10 years with honesty," said Danish Kaneria in his video.
11:17 IST, December 29th 2019