Hyderabad: Banned Pakistani spinner Danish Kaneria in an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat gave his views on various issues such as the life ban imposed on him, the PCB, the ECB while also speaking about his views on applying for the Indian citizenship.
Danish was also joined by his wife Dharmita and she spoke about the challenges the couple had to face during the initial phase of the ban.
How did you face the tough times?
Answering to this question, wife Dharmita replied "It was never easy for us, neither for me nor for Danish. The initial days were very difficult. Life ban was and is still very tough. Danish was on top of his career, then suddenly everything got over. He got mentally upset and had closed all the doors for himself. He also stopped going out even to the gym."
Dharmita further revealed that it was more for her on how to get Danish out of depression than hinking about the future. She suggested "In such a situation, I could not be weakened. I had to become strong so that Danish could also get strong. And this is the reason why he is still standing strong. Now he has understood how to fight and handle himself.
Wrote letter to PCB, no response received
Danish had recently written a letter to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) requesting them to allow him to play domestic cricket. However, so far no response has come from PCB.
With 261 Test wickets, Danish is placed fourth in the list of leadng wicket-takers for Pakistan in Tests. He said, "Human being make mistakes, now we should move forward. I want to move forward but they don't want to listen. Nepotism and favouritism is taking place in PCB. They are creating such an environment that human beings kill themselves. These are the ideals that kill humans, humans do not die themselves. I have written so many letters to the PCB, ECB and ICC, still no conclusion has been made."
Why haven't you written a letter to the ECB to lift the ban?
Karachi resident Kaneria said "The letter I have written has gone ahead through my lawyers. The ICC does not have any law regarding life ban but there is an Article 6 which allows the player who has been banned can request the ICC to remove his ban which the ICC can also remove. I have written the same to them two weeks ago, however, the answer has not yet come."
ON ECB, Danish said, "The ECB has banned me from domestic cricket, but has not banned me from international cricket. People say that I sold the country, I did not sell the country and neither have I taken any money. There are people who after selling the country, have come back to run the board and the country, some have also started playing cricket."
On attaining Indian citizenship
Danish made it clear that there has been numerous calls to come to India. However, he said, "I played cricket for my country, found a lot here, can't think of anything more than that. My fight is with the board, I have so many friends and fans here, everybody loves me and supports me. Currently I can't say anything about moving to India. No one knows what is going to happen in the future. First I want to get out of this situation and then we will see what can be done".
