Former Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria has recently raised questions about wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan’s public display of Namaz (Islamic prayers) during the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. Kaneria has suggested that Rizwan should offer his prayers in the dressing room rather than on the cricket field. He has also pointed out that Indian players also pray, but do not do it in public to demonstrate their devotion.
In an interview with Aaj Tak, Danish Kaneria said, “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.”
He continued, “What’s the need to do it in front of everyone? 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?”
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Danish Kaneria, who practices Hinduism, shared his experiences of facing discrimination during his playing days due to his religion. He revealed that his Pakistani teammates would often wake him up for Fajr Namaz (morning prayer), saying, “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.”
Kaneria also touched on how some Pakistanis had urged him to convert to Islam. He believed that such a conversion would have extended his cricketing career and possibly led to a captaincy stint.
“Had I converted to Islam, I think I would have captained Pakistan and broken everyone’s records,” he stated.
He went on to highlight that the situation in India is more harmonious compared to Pakistan, using the example of Virat Kohli coming to the defense of Mohammed Shami when the latter faced online abuse based on his religion.
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“All the communities in India live together very peacefully. When Mohammed Shami was trolled, Virat Kohli was the first to come in his support. This never happened during my playing days. No Pakistani player made such statements for me. In India, everyone is treated as an equal,” Danish Kaneria noted.
