ISLAMABAD: Former cricketer Shahid Afridi denied all the allegations levelled against him by former leg spinner Danish Kaneria, saying that the latter is accusing him to get cheap fame and money.<\/p>\n
Kaneria, in an interview with an Indian TV channel, alleged that Shahid Afridi ill-treated him for being a Hindu and forced him to convert to Islam.<\/p>\n
Talking to\u00a0Geo News<\/i>, Afridi, denied all the allegations and said that he was trying to understand the religion at the time Kaneria is talking about.<\/p>\n
Criticising the former leg-spinner, the 42-year-old said that Kaneria defamed the country\u2019s name by spot-fixing and ended his career himself. “He is accusing me to get cheap fame and money,” added Afridi.<\/p>\n
Afridi said that Kaneria was like a brother to him and he always supported him. \u201cWhy is he placing allegations against me now? Why did he not complain to the Pakistan Cricket Board and Habib Bank Limited about my behaviour towards him at that time?\u201d asked the cricketer, adding that everyone knows about \u201chis character\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is giving interviews to our rival country and evoking religious sentiments,\u201d adding that Kaneria did spot-fixing in England and was convicted there.<\/p>\n
Pakistan\u2019s former leg spinner Danish Kaneria \u2014 who was indicted in the spot-fixing case \u2014 made serious allegations against Afridi of ill-treatment against him for being a Hindu.<\/p>\n
The spinner also alleged that former PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt refused to accept his position, which ended his cricket career.<\/p>\n
Kaneria said that former pacer Shoaib Akhtar was the first cricketer to speak about Afridi\u2019s behaviour with him on national TV. He said that he always had issues with Afridi. \u201cHe always tried to bring me down,\u201d added the former spinner.<\/p>\n
Kaneria further said that \u201che and Afridi used to play for the same department and he used to keep me on the bench.\u201d He added that there were senior players in the team like Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shoaib Akhtar, Moin Khan, Rashid Latif and Younis Khan, but he only had issues with Afridi.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfridi was the captain of my department and used to bench me. However, when Younis Khan became the captain, he included me in all the games,\u201d the former player said, adding that Afridi used to taunt him while practising.<\/p>\n
He also said that former president Pervez Musharraf supported him at the time when Mohammad Yousuf converted to Islam, including other players in the team. \u201cI was disturbed due to Shahid Afridi\u2019s behaviour towards me and the other team players used to tell Afridi not to bother me,\u201d added Kaneria.<\/p>\n
He went on to say that Afridi supported the ban on him due to spot-fixing, however, he took Muhammad Amir\u2019s side in the same case.<\/p>\n