In a chat show, former Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar said that Danish Kaneira, former leg spinner, was mistreated by his team-mates because he was a Hindu.
As reported by Yahoo! News, “I used to get livid when anyone was discriminated on the basis of region or religion. A Hindu born in Pakistan is entitled to represent his country. When that Hindu (Kaneria) won us the Test series against England (in 2005), I chided my team-mates for mistreating him,” he said.
He also said that Kaneira was not allowed to pick up from the same table as others because of his religion.
According to Yahoo! News, Akhtar said, “Captain would raise eyebrows about he eating with us or taking the food from the same table. I told him that you could be the captain but your conduct is despicable. This guy (Kaneria) is chalking up so many wickets to win matches for us and you’re treating him like this.”
Akhtar said that Kaneria did not get any credit for his exception performances and that was "totally uncalled" for. “No one was giving Danish any credit for his exceptional performance. That was totally uncalled for. He won us the Test series against England (in 2005). He snared all the top-order batsmen,”Akhtar said.
Kaneria is among few cricket players to play for Pakistan's International cricket. He has played 61 Test matches for the country but was later banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for his alleged role in spot fixing.
