The former Indian cricketer, Gautam Gambhir has slammed Pakistan after Danish Kaneria posted his remark over Shoaib Akhtar’s revelation during a chat show. Recently, the former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has revealed how poorly the minority cricketers were treated by the fellow Pakistan cricketers. During the chat show, he revealed how Danish Kaneria was mistreated by his fellow cricketers for being Hindu.
After Kaneria confirmed that he was mistreated by his team-mates for being Hindu, Gambhir shame-slammed Pakistan and said that it showed the “real face of Pakistan”. He mentioned the names of the Indian cricketers who were Muslims and yet were treated no different than any of the other religion cricketer.
“We had captains like Mohammad Azharuddin leading India for such a long time… This is happening in a country helmed by Imran Khan who himself was a cricketer,” the BJP MP Gambhir was quoted as saying by PTI.
Danish Kaneria who is the fourth-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket for Pakistan has played 61 Tests for Pakistan and has always proved his mettle. However, the cricketer was never given the credit that he deserved for his contribution to Pakistan cricket.
Furthermore, Gambhir took the names of all the Muslim cricketers with whom he is still friends with and slammed Pakistan for the shocking revelations.
“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,” Gambhir said, adding, “this shows the real face of Pakistan.”
Gambhir said that if based on his religion a cricketer could face such atrocities then “one can only imagine what Hindus, Sikhs, and other minorities have to go through (in Pakistan).”
Kaneria cleared out the names of Pakistan cricketers who supported him
Kaneria was, later, found guilty of ball-tampering by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) while he was playing for the English club Essex. The leg-spinner then filed an appeal in 2013 against the ban that prevented him from playing in cricket for a lifetime but was rejected.
However, the Pakistan cricketer did not have the courage to come forth and tell about the way he was treated by his teammates. After the ex-speedster of Pakistan revealed the shocking truth of his teammates, Kaneria came forward and thanked Akhtar for bringing it to light while he couldn’t.
“Shoaib Akhtar has always been very blunt. I did not have the courage to speak about it but Shoaib Bhai spoke about. I am proud that I have played for Pakistan and I have achieved so much against all the odds,” Danish said.
Meanwhile, Kaneria cleared out the names of the Pakistan cricketers who had supported him always and asked the cricket fans not to make it a political matter.
“But I would like to add that Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf (formerly Yousuf Youhan), Younis Khan and Shoaib Akhtar always supported me for my cricketing abilities. I had never had any issues from their sides. I would like to clear this thing.”
Nevertheless, it is unbelievable how even sports is not left unmarred by the cruelty of religions and discrimination. After his banishment from cricket, Kaneria told how difficult his life has become and that he still does not have the courage to say the names of the ones who had mistreated him in front of the media.