Danish Kaneria

Danish Kaneria Biography

Known for his well-disguised googly, Danish Prabha Shankar Kaneria is a former Pakistani cricketer who was born on 16th December 1980 in Karachi, Pakistan.

He played for the Pakistani national side from 2000 to 2010 in Tests and ODIs.

Danish was a right arm leg spinner and was a right-handed batsman. He was the 7th non-Muslim player and 2nd Hindu cricketer to represent Pakistan in International cricket.

Background

In 1998, Danish started his career playing a match against National Shipping Corporation against HBL.

Apart from National Shipping Corporation, he also represented clubs like Karachi Dolphins, Balochistan Bears, Karachi Harbour, Karachi Zebras, Karachi Blues, Karachi Whites and Sindh Cricket Team.

Danish took 10 or more wickets in a match on 12 occasions and took 71 five wicket hauls during his first class career.

Debut

Kaneria made his international debut at the age of 19 years as a leg-spinner playing in a Test match in 2002 against England at Faisalabad in Iqbal stadium and he took 2 wickets in the first innings and was wicketless in the second innings.

One year after his Test debut, he got his ODI cap against Zimbabwe at Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, but he could represent Pakistan in only 18 ODI matches as they usually opted to play two spinning all-rounders.

Rise to Glory

Initially Danish took his time to come to terms with international cricket but once he got a hang of it, he went on to become an essential cog in Pakistan's bowling attack even in foreign conditions.

In 61 Test appearances he made, he took 261 wickets at an average of 34.79. His best bowling performance in an innings was 7/77 runs while his best performance in a match was 12 wickets for 94 runs and his performance earned him the man of the match award, both coming against Bangladesh.

In 2005, for his performance, he was nominated for the ICC Test Player of the Year by the International Cricket Council and was once described by the BBC as a "match-winner with his leg-breaks".

Low Points

Kaneria suffered a massive blow when he was found guilty of spot-fixing along with Essex teammate in English county cricket in 2012.

After all the inquiries, he was banned for life from playing county cricket in England and Wales.

Club Career

Kaneria represented for Essex between 2004 and 2010 in English County Championship. By taking 32 wickets in seven championship matches for Essex in 2005, he impressed everyone in county cricket.

Records

Only behind fast bowlers Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Imran Khan, Danish is fourth on the list of bowlers with most Test wickets for Pakistan. He also bagged a 5-wicket haul against every Test playing nation apart from England.