"I Have No Idea Why I Was Stopped From Travelling to UAE" : Danish Kaneria by PakPassion.Net

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Player:	Danish Kaneria
Event:	South Africa in United Arab Emirates 2010/11

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DateLine: 10th November 2010

 

As Pakistan prepare for the two Test series against South Africa in the United Arab Emirates, one of their expected bowling lynchpins is sitting confused in Karachi, and will instead be representing Habib Bank Limited in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, rather than facing the likes of Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis at the Dubai Sports City stadium.

 

29 year old Danish Kaneria, who has taken 261 wickets in 61 Test matches and is the Pakistan's highest wicket-taking spin bowler in Pakistan's history, was stopped at the last moment from travelling to the Emirates by the Pakistan Cricket Board. Kaneria was due to fly to Dubai early on Sunday morning as one of a group of five players but he was called by a board official just before he was due to leave for the airport and informed that he could not go. Meanwhile, Mohammad Sami, Azhar Ali, Taufeeq Umar and Mohammad Yousuf all left to join the squad in the UAE.

 

Team manager Intikhab Alam confirmed to PakPassion on Sunday that Kaneria's omission was due to a Pakistan Cricket Board policy decision and that he could not comment further on the decision to exclude the Essex leg spinner.

 

Speaking to PakPassion.net from Karachi, Kaneria stated that he is bewildered by the last minute decision to stop him travelling to Dubai.

 

"I was all set to travel and then suddenly I'm told I won't be travelling to the Emirates."

 

Kaneria - who was dropped from the Test squad in England after struggling for form - added that he has no idea why he was not permitted to make the trip to Dubai.

 

"I haven't heard anything from the Pakistan Cricket Board regarding why I couldn't travel to Dubai. They (the PCB), as yet have not given me any reason to why I was not allowed to travel. There has been no communication at all from the Board."

 

The Pakistan Cricket Board has not made any official announcement on the matter and it is unclear whether the decision has anything to do with the PCB’s attempts to "sort itself out" and tighten up against corruption. Kaneria was the subject of a criminal investigation earlier in the English summer by Essex police over allegations that he was involved in spot-fixing during a county game. The investigations had begun in May but Kaneria was cleared by Essex police in September.

(Article: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author only.
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