Danish Kaneria: “Shahid Afridi and many other Pakistan players troubled me a lot and didn’t eat with me. Shahid Afridi was the main person telling me to convert, and he did a lot of times”
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Ex-Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria has revealed that former all-rounder Shahid Afridi “troubled me a lot” and repeatedly told him to convert to Islam.
Kaneria, who is Hindu, added that Afridi “didn’t eat with me”.
Despite his claims against the 45-year-old, Kaneria confirmed that not all Pakistan players were like that as legendary captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and iconic fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar supported him a lot.
“I too, have faced a lot of discrimination, and my career was destroyed. I did not receive the respect and equal value I deserved in Pakistan. I was doing well in my career and was playing county cricket too. Inzamam-ul-Haq supported me a lot and was the only captain who did so. Alongside him, Shoaib Akhtar,” he was quoted as saying by TOK Sports on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Shahid Afridi and many other Pakistan players troubled me a lot and didn’t eat with me. Shahid Afridi was the main person telling me to convert, and he did a lot of times. Inzamam-ul-Haq never used to talk that way.”
The Pakistan team recently featured in the 2025 Champions Trophy, where they failed to make it out of the group stage after going winless.
They then embarked on a white-ball tour of New Zealand and were crushed 4-1 in the T20I series before being battered 3-0 in the ODIs.
Following this, many of the national players were involved in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL), which the Lahore Qalandars won.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a three-match T20I series against Bangladesh, which will be held in Lahore from May 28 to June 1.
Pakistan Squad for Bangladesh T20I Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper) and Saim Ayub