Danish Kaneria, a former Pakistani cricketer, recently made a comment that caused a stir in the cricketing world when he questioned wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan’s motivations for doing Namaz in public at the current 2023 World Cup. Kaneria advised Rizwan to say his prayers in the locker room instead of on the field.
Danish Kaneria gave his opinion to Aaj Tak on how the Pakistani cricket team handles religion, politics, and the game. According to him, “For this current Pakistani team, religion comes first, then it’s politics, while cricket is the third priority. I don’t understand their antics. If you want to offer Namaz, do it in the dressing room.”
Danish Kaneria Yet Again Slams Muhammad Rizwan’s On-Field Namaz
Kaneria continued by saying, “What’s the need to do it in front of everyone?” he continued. “We also do our Puja. But we don’t start doing Aarti on the ground. What do you think—Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli don’t pray, or Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj don’t offer Namaz?”
Danish Kaneria’s comments have ignited a heated discussion regarding the role of religion in sports, especially in the context of international cricket. Hindu Danish Kaneria has spoken up about the prejudice he suffered as a player because of his faith. He said that his Pakistani teammates used to wake him up every morning to attend Fajr Namaz, the early morning prayer.
Kaneria said, “My teammates used to call me to inform me about the time for Fajr Namaz. I got fed up after it happened a few times and asked them to stop calling me. There was a lot of discrimination once Inzamam-ul-Haq left.”
Despite the controversy surrounding his career, Danish Kaneria is still regarded as Pakistan’s fourth-highest wicket-taker in Test matches, with a total of 261 wickets in 61 matches. However, his career in cricket was cut short when the England and Wales Cricket Board banned him for life due to his spot-fixing activities.
Danish Kaneria has been quite vocal about the things and pressure that he had to go through in the Pakistan Cricket Team just because he was a Hindu. He has disclosed the miserable plight of Hindus in Pakistan. We will expect more things to come up.
