Danish Kaneria

Danish Parabha Shankar Kaneria ( ur, ; ), (born 16 December 1980) is a Pakistani former cricketer who played for the Pakistan national cricket team between 2000 and 2010. A right-arm leg spinner known for his well-disguised googly. He is fourth on the list of bowlers with most Test wickets for Pakistan, behind only fast bowlers Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Imran Khan. Kaneria was the second Hindu after Anil Dalpat, and seventh non-Muslim to represent Pakistan in international cricket.

Kaneria played 61 Test matches for Pakistan and took 261 wickets at an average of 34.79. He represented the team only in 18 ODIs taking 15 wickets with an average of over 45. In Test cricket, Kaneria's best bowling performance in an innings was seven wickets for 77 runs whereas his best performance in a match was 12 wickets for 94 runs, both against Bangladesh. He also took 15 five-wicket hauls in Test cricket, and achieved six and seven wickets in an innings on three and four occasions respectively. He took ten wickets or more in a match on two occasions, once against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka each. Kaneria never played Twenty20 International matches (T20I) for Pakistan. He played 206 first-class matches, 167 List A (LA) and 65 Twenty20 matches during his career. Kaneria also played in English county cricket during 2004 and 2010 representing Essex County Cricket Club.

After allegations of being involved in spot fixing, Kaneria was given a lifetime ban by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), preventing him from playing in matches under their jurisdiction. He subsequently filed an appeal against the ban, but this was rejected in July 2013.

In October 2018, Kaneria admitted to his involvement in the 2009 spot-fixing scandal.

Early life and education

Danish was born in Karachi, Sindh, on 16 December 1980 to Prabhashankarbhai Laljibhai Kaneria and Babita Prabhashankarbhai Kaneria. Nicknamed "Danny" and "Nani-Danny", he attained his education from the Government Islamia College in Karachi. Kaneria is a Hindu and is of Gujarati ethnicity. His ancestors migrated from Surat and settled in Karachi over a century ago. After former test wicket-keeper Anil Dalpat, who is his cousin, Kaneria is the second Hindu to have played for Pakistan.

He was educated at the St. Patrick's High School, Karachi.

Career

Domestic career

Kaneria represented National Shipping Corporation, Karachi Whites, Pakistan Reserves, Habib Bank Limited cricket team (HBL), Karachi, Essex, Karachi Blues, Karachi Zebras, Karachi Harbour, Sindh cricket team, Baluchistan Bears, Karachi Dolphins and Pakistan A cricket team at domestic level. He started his first-class career when he played a match for National Shipping Corporation against HBL in 1998–99. He conceded 86 runs and took two wickets in the match. Kaneria played 206 first-class matches during 1998–99 and 2011–12, and took 1,024 wickets at the average of 26.16. His economy rate remained 2.98 and a strike rate of over 52. Kaneria took 71 five-wicket hauls during his first-class career. He also took ten or more wickets in a match on 12 occasions. He played his last match of that format against the Punjab cricket team at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore while playing for Sindh in February 2012. His best performance for an innings was eight wickets for 59 runs. As a batsman, Kaneria scored 1,918 runs in 264 innings at the average of 10.71 including a half-century. His highest score in first-class cricket remained 65 runs.

Kaneria played his first LA match for Karachi White against Quetta cricket team in April 1998–99 at the United Bank Limited Sports Complex, Karachi. He conceded only 16 runs in 10 overs without taking a wicket. Kaneria played 167 LA matches during his career taking 262 wickets at the average of 22.70. He took eight five-wicket hauls and nine four-wicket hauls in the format. His best performance in LA was seven wickets for 39 runs. Kaneria also scored 379 runs in LA cricket at the average of 9.24 in including his solitary half-century. His highest score in the format was 64 runs. He lastly represented HBL in an LA against Pakistan International Airlines cricket team (PIA) at the Gaddafi Stadium.

Kaneria's first T20 match came in April 2005 against Lahore Eagles while playing for Karachi Zebras. He played 65 T20 matches between 2005 and 2012 and took 87 wickets at the average of 18.78. He took two four-wicket hauls in T20s, and his best bowling performance in the format was four wickets for 22 runs. Kaneria scored 104 runs in T20s, and his final match came against the Peshawar Panthers playing for Karachi Zebras.

Tests

Kaneria made his international debut as a leg-spinner in November 2000 at the age of 19, playing in a Test match against England at Faisalabad. In that same season, he played two Test matches against the same team taking only four wickets at the average of 54 runs. In the next year, he took six wickets in an innings twice against Bangladesh during the first match of 2001–02 Asian Test Championship. Kaneria took 12 wickets for 94 runs, Pakistan won the match, and his performance earned him the man of the match award. This was also his best bowling performance in a Test match. The following year, during the Pakistan tour Bangladesh, Kaneria achieved his career-best performance in an innings against the same team taking seven wickets for 77 runs at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka. In October 2003–04, he was part of the Pakistan team during the South Africa tour of Pakistan. In first Test match played at the Gaddafi Stadium, he took seven wickets for 111 runs including a five-wicket haul in the first innings. His performance in the match helped Pakistan winning the match and earned him the man of the match award. He bowled 28.3 overs continuously from the University End providing "the priceless asset of control" to his team and the South African batsmen were unable to "read him with certainty".

In October 2004, he took ten wickets against Sri Lanka at the National Stadium, Karachi, with a second-innings haul of seven wickets for 118, setting up Pakistan's six-wicket win. He took ten wickets in the mach conceding 190 runs. Kaneria bowled 60 overs in that innings which caused his finger bleeding. His performance won him the man of the match award. In January 2005, Kaneria took eight wickets in a math against Australia conceding 204 runs including seven wickets for 188 runs in the first Australian innings. Despite Pakistan lost the match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, he achieved his third seven-wicket haul in Test cricket, and Australian cricketer Shane Warne praised his performance. During the innings, he reached his hundredth Test wicket. Kaneria was initially nominated for the ICC Test Player of the Year by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2005 for his performance during the previous year. Kaneria was once described by the BBC
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