Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria has lashed out at Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for reducing Umar Akmal’s three-year suspension by one-and-a-half years and accused the apex cricketing body of maintaining double-standards with players.
Akmal was banned from playing professional cricket in April 2020 after he failed to report the corrupt approaches made by bookies ahead of Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Kaneria, who is serving lifetime suspension, remarked that he had been subjected to discrimination because of his religious background.
“You call it zero tolerance policy for corruption. Umar was proved guilty but still his ban has been halved. They showed compassion in his case. Amir, Asif, Salman too were allowed to come back, why leave me out?” stated Kaneria to PTI.
“Why don’t they show the same compassion in my case? They say I talk about my religion (he is a Hindu) but what do I say when the discrimination is crystal clear. I am just going by simple logic.”
Kaneria, in his days, was a premier spinner for Pakistan, and he finished his career with 261 wickets in 61 Tests before being banned in 2012 for his involvement in spot-fixing while playing for Essex.
The 39-years-old further asked why the apex board never showed any sympathy to reduce his suspension period.
“Umar has been involved in controversy for the major part of his career due to disciplinary issues. If there is sympathy for him, where is the same sympathy for me? Did he bribe someone to get this done?” inquired Kaneria.
“They say I play the religion card. You tell me which Hindu player has played for Pakistan after me. No one. All these years they did not find one Hindu who was good enough. I find that hard to believe,” he added.
Meanwhile, Akmal is still not satisfied with the decision and stated that he would file another appeal to reduce the ban-period further.
“I am thankful to the judge for listening to my lawyers properly. I will decide about the remaining sentence and try to get it reduced further. For now I am not satisfied and will consult my lawyers and family how to take this ahead. There are many players before me who made mistakes and just look at what they got and what I got. So all I say right now is thank you very much,” remarked Akmal.
