New Delhi: Former Pakistani cricketer Danish Kaneria Monday hit out at ex-teammate Shahid Afridi for his comments on the deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam. Kaneria accused the former skipper of “consistently aligning himself with extremist views”.
Reacting to a clip of Afridi’s remarks, which have been widely shared on social media, Kaneria, in a post on X, added that he should not be given a platform on Indian television or within the country.
Kaneria also said Afridi had tried to persuade him to convert to Islam and even declined to share a meal with him, which he found deeply disrespectful.
In the video that Kaneria was reacting to, talking about the attack that left 26 civilians dead and which India has said has links to Pakistan, Afridi said that no country or religion supports terrorism. And, as far as both Pakistan and Islam are concerned, they have only vouched for “aman” (peace). He further added that Pakistan has always tried to mend their relationship with India.
“We used to get so many threats before travelling to India. During the 2016 T20 World Cup, when I was leading the team, we had no clarity whether we would go,” the former Pakistan skipper recalled.
He said that “sports diplomacy is the best”. He noted that the Indian kabaddi team travels to Pakistan but the cricket team refuses.
“Either stop it completely or let everything work,” he added.
This comes even as Afridi’s comments in an 27 April interview to Pakistani channel Samaa TV have also drawn backlash. In the interview, Afridi said, “Your [Indian] army of 8 lakh officers is in Kashmir and yet this incident occurred. This simply means you are incompetent to give security to your people.”
Kaneria says he is a proud Hindu
Kaneria has called out the Pakistan government several times for its stand on the Pahalgam attack. When people questioned his loyalty to Pakistan, he said he was a “proud Hindu”.
“I am a Hindu — a proud one. As a Hindu, I served and played for the nation where I was born, because no matter where Hindus live in the world, they remain loyal and devoted to their country. The people of Pakistan gave me love, but its rulers treated me no differently than they have treated my Hindu brothers and sisters since Partition,” he said.
He has consistently aligned himself with extremist views. In my opinion, he should not be given a platform on Indian television or within the country. Additionally, he tried to persuade me to convert to Islam and declined to share a meal with me, which I found deeply… https://t.co/gArYTNX1x4
— Danish Kaneria (@DanishKaneria61) April 28, 2025
On Monday, Kaneria was reacting to a post asking why Afridi’s YouTube channel had not been banned. The Indian government has banned several Pakistani YouTube channels, including that of former cricketer Shoaib Akhtar, as part of a bouquet of actions taken in response to the Pahalgam attack.
The online streams of some top Pakistan news channels like Dawn News, ARY News, Samaa TV, and Geo News have also been banned.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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