'Characterless' Shahid Afridi was a manipulator, he conspired against me: Danish Kaneria
India Today
Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria slammed Shahid Afridi for mistreating him during his playing days and went on to call him a liar and characterless.
Danish Kaneria has leveled serious allegations against ex-Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi of mistreating him during their playing days. Calling Afridi a 'liar” and “manipulator”, Kaneria said Afridi never wanted him on the Pakistani cricket team and he also used to reach out to other players and provoke them against him.
"Shoaib Akhtar was the first person to talk about my problem in public. Hats off to him for saying it (how I was mistreated in the team because of being a Hindu). However, he was later pressured by several authorities. He then stopped talking about it. But yes, it did happen to me. I was always degraded by Shahid Afridi. We used to play together for the same department, he used to keep me on the bench and didn’t let me play the one-day tournament," Danish Kaneria told IANS.
"He didn’t want me to be in the team. He was a liar, a 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 said.
Kaneria also added that there were false allegations leveled against him and said that he was never involved in any kind of spot-fixing. The right-arm bowler was banned by the ECB in the year 2012 and was charged with spot-fixing in the English County Championship pro-league matches in 2009.
"Some false allegations were leveled 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."
"There are several fixers who got out of the ban. I don’t know why I am not able to get that treatment. I have played for my country and I should be given a chance like others as well. Now I am not even playing any international cricket. I am not asking the PCB for any job, but please lift this ban so that I can live peacefully and do my work with respect," he added.
The right-hander played 61 Tests where he picked up 261 wickets, while he was also capped 18 times in the ODIs and had 15 scalps to his name.
