Islamabad - Members of a parliamentary committee alleged that the PCB was not helping Danish Kaneria to fight his case against lifetime ban imposed by English and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) ‘because he belongs to Hindu community’.
“The PCB is not providing financial and legal assistance to Kaneria because he is a Hindu by faith,” said PML-N lawmaker Ramesh Kumar Vankvani during the meeting of National Assembly’s (NA) Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination.
Vankvani was of the view that Kaneria was being discriminated against and the PCB officials were not assisting him like they had helped other cricketers in the past. Supporting the arguments of Vankvani, Iqbal M Ali said: “Kaneria has no money and cannot fight the case on his own. Kaneria has now himself said that he was being mistreated because he is a Hindu.” He urged the PCB to provide legal and financial assistance to the leg spinner so that he can pursue his case against lifetime ban in the court. Responding to Vankvani’s allegations, PCB Chief Operating Officer Subhan Ahmed said: “According to anti-corruption codes of International Cricket Council (ICC), the PCB cannot provide any assistance to Kaneria. If any cricket board imposes ban on any player, all the member countries of ICC are bind to follow and implement the decision,” he reiterated. Subhan added that PCB did not provide any assistance to M Aamir, M Asif and Salman Butt when they were convicted. Meanwhile, Kaneria said he was glad to hear that his case was being pursued. “I am thankful to the standing committee for raising the issue. I am grateful to Iqbal M Ali and Ramesh Kumar Vankvani for pursuing my case,” said Kaneria and added: “It has given me a new hope to continue my career and represent Pakistan.”