Danish Kaneria

Danish Parabha Shankar Kaneria, (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 who could bowl a googly, Kaneria played 61 Test matches for Pakistan and took 261 wickets at an average of 34.79.

He was the second Hindu, after his cousin Anil Dalpat, and the seventh non-Muslim overall to represent Pakistan in international cricket.

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.

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 first Hindu to have played for Pakistan.

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

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.

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 also played in English county cricket during 2004 and 2010 representing Essex County Cricket Club.

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.

He subsequently filed an appeal against the ban, but this was rejected in July 2013.

In 2015, ECB made an effort to recover £250,000 from him with the help of Pakistani authorities.

Kaneria also represented the team 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.

In October 2018, Kaneria admitted to having met with a match fixer named Anu Bhatt but Kaneria did not know he was meeting with a fixer.

He also mentioned that a lot of his teammates knew the alleged fixer (Anu Bhatt).