‘Accusing me to get cheap fame and money’: Shahid Afridi denies allegations by Danish Kaneria

Former Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi has hit back at former teammate Danish Kaneria after the spinner put out some explosive accusations against him. The all-rounder claimed that Kaneria was making the allegations “to get cheap fame and money”.

Kaneria had tagged Afridi as a liar, “manipulator” and a “characterless person” for mistreating him during their playing days. He alleged that Afridi did not want him in the Pakistan squad out of jealousy. He also accused the all-rounder of targeting him for being a Hindu.

The spinner further added that it hurt his religious sentiments when Afridi asked him to convert to Islam. As per Kaneria, he got no attention from the former Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt regarding his complaints against the all-rounder.

Shahid Afridi opened up about the claims during an interview with a Pakistani news channel. He argued that Kaneria is making such allegations for money and cheap publicity. Afridi also noted that Kaneria had claimed the religious sentiment angle because he was talking with an Indian website.

“Why is he placing allegations against me now? Why did he not complain to the Pakistan Cricket Board and Habib Bank Limited about my behaviour towards him at that time?” Afridi said.

“He is giving interviews to our rival country and evoking religious sentiments.”

Kaneria had also claimed that Afridi, who was the skipper of the team, intentionally benched him and provoked other teammates against him. But after Younis Khan was elected the new captain, the spinner became a regular member of the 11-member squad. He also thanked his other teammates for being supportive during those days. Kaneria said, “I was very lucky as my other teammates were very supportive. I indeed enjoyed playing with them from the day 1 of my career.”

Danish Kaneria was a part of the Pakistan cricket squad for almost a decade. In his 61 test appearances for Pakistan, the leg-spinner scalped a total of 261 wickets. Against India, he played 11 matches to take 43 wickets.

He also featured in 18 One-Day Internationals, where he picked up 15 wickets. His cricketing career came to an end in 2012 after he got banned by the England Cricket Board over the spot-fixing charges during the English County Championship Pro-League matches in 2009.

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