Inzamam-ul-Haq rubbishes Danish Kaneria’s claims, makes shocking revelations

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Danish Kaneria played the most number of his Tests under Inzamam's captaincy

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Pakistan cricket has been battling some demons from the past in the last few days after Shoaib Akhtar stated that many former players did not want leg-spinner Danish Kaneria to be a part of the team because of his faith. Since then, Akhtar has come out and tried to clarify his earlier comments, claiming that they’d be taken completely out of context.

Kaneria himself has taken to his YouTube channel, and backed Akhtar’s claims, stating that he had a tough time getting through and is currently jobless because of several reasons, including the fact that he was part of a corruption scandal in English Country cricket. To silence the critics, Inzamam-ul-Haq, one of Pakistan’s premier batsmen of all time, former captain, and chief selector, has come forth to rubish all claims. In the past couple of days, ul-Haq has stated that he never felt any such thing when Kaneria played under him.

Instead, he has revealed that he gave selection preference to Kaneria over former leg-spinner and longtime friend Mushtaq Ahmed. He revealed that he chose Kaneria over Ahmed as he believed that he was still young, versatile, and Pakistan’s future.

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Inzamam-ul-Haq "Mushtaq Ahmed was a good friend of mine since childhood but I gave Danish Kaneria selection preference because he was Pakistan's future & Mushtaq was dropped in my captaincy. So there was no such thing as players were only picked if they prayed namaz" #Cricket

— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) December 27, 2019

The legendary batsman has further stated that whenever India and Pakistan toured Sharjah together, several players would be residing in the same hotel and would sit in each other's rooms, joke around and eat together. He also rubbished Kaneria’s claims that Pakistanis have small hearts and did not accept people of other faiths. Inzamam stated that “Pakistanis have big hearts and we can accept everyone in our hearts."

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Inzamam-ul-Haq "I am not ready to accept Danish Kaneria that we have such small hearts, that we would do a thing like this and that we didn't accept someone. I think Pakistanis have big hearts and we can accept everyone in our hearts" #Cricket

— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) December 27, 2019

On the other hand, another former cricketer from Pakistan, Mohammad Yousuf, has come forward to confirm that he never faced any sort of discrimination in the dressing room as he followed another faith before converting to Islam.

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Uttar Pradesh Minister Mohsin Raza "Mohammad Yousuf faced all sorts of discrimination in Pakistan"

Mohammad Yousuf "I condemn comments made about discrimination regarding players from minorities. I've always had a lot of love & support from the team, management & fans"#Cricket

— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) December 27, 2019

While it will be difficult for former players to water down the controversy which was fueled by comments from Shoaib Akhtar, statements from Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf will help Pakistan's cricket and its former players retain their image as we’ve seen numerous players of all faith take part in the Pakistan Super League and enjoy their experience with Pakistani players and fans. 

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