Gambhir slams Pak, says 'Hindu cricketer not spared, imagine condition of minorities'
Gautam Gambhir appealed to Pakistan PM Imran Khan to help Danish Kaneria, at the very least for the sole reason that he used to be a cricketer as well.
Former cricketer and current BJP MP Gautam Gambhir condemns the harsh treatment meted out to banned Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria. Gautam Gambhir also appealed to Pakistan Prime Minister to reach out to Danish Kaneria for the sole reason that current Pakistan PM Imran Khan was a sports person first.
Criticising heavily, Gautam Gambir lashed out at the mentality of people in Pakistan, he said, "If this happened with a cricketer, imagine the horror faced by minorities in that country". It all came to light when a video of Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar, who has been vocal on different issues, has gone viral on social media in which he had said that players refused to eat food with Kaneria just because he was a Hindu.
'Actual face of Pakistan'
“This is the actual face of Pakistan. On the other hand, we have cricketer like Mohd Azharuddin whom we respect. He has been the captain of 80-90 test matches and has always received honour whole playing cricket for India. Pakistan PM Imran Khan had been a sports person first, he should understand Danish Kaneria's predicament", Gautam Gambhir said.
“The spinner, who had 261 Test wickets and 15 ODI scalps, made his country proud, he faced such deplorable behaviour. We had cricketers like Irfan Pathan, Mohammad Kaif and Munaf Pathan, they never had such complaints. Munaf Pathan is still a very good friend of mine. It's completely condemnable”, Gautam Gambhir added.
Kaneria seeks help
Danish Kaneria remains, till date, one of the best leg spinner of Pakistan. After pacer Shoaib Akhtar's expose, Danish issued a statement saying, "I need support from all legendary players of Pakistan including honourable Prime Minister Imran Khan, cricket administrators of Pakistan and other countries to get me out of the mess. Please come forward and help me out”.
The 39-year-old spinner also added in the statement that, "At the same time, my life is not in a good shape and I approached many individuals in Pakistan and around the world to resolve my issues. Yet, I have not received any help. Issues of many cricketers of Pakistan have been resolved though."
Kaneria, who played for Pakistan between 2000 and 2010, is only the second Hindu player to play for Pakistan, the other being Anil Dalpat, incidentally, Kaneria's uncle, was a wicketkeeper who played in the 1980s. Kaneria is fourth in the list of bowlers who have taken most Test wickets for Pakistan, behind only fast bowlers Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Imran Khan.
Published By : Shantasree Sarkar
Published On: 27 December 2019 at 16:04 IST