"What do you think Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli don't pray?"  - Danish Kaneria takes a dig at Mohammad Rizwan

Former Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria recently questioned wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan's motive behind offering Namaz in front of the Indian crowd during the ongoing 2023 World Cup.

Kaneria suggested that Rizwan should offer Namaz in the dressing room instead of doing it on the ground. He also pointed out that Indian players also pray, but they don't do it in public just to show people how devoted they are.

Speaking to Aaj Tak, Danish Kaneria remarked (14:00):

"For this current Pakistani team, religion comes first, then it's politics, while cricket is the third priority. I don't understand their antics. If you want to offer Namaz, do it in the dressing room."

"What's the need to do it in front of everyone?" he continued. "We also do our Puja. But we don't start doing Aarti on the ground. What do you think—Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli don't pray, or Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj don't offer Namaz?"

Danish Kaneria, who is a Hindu, stated that he faced a lot of discrimination during his playing days because of his religion. He revealed that his Pakistani teammates would often wake him up for Fajr Namaz, adding (12:50):

"My teammates used to call me to inform me about the time for Fajr Namaz. I got fed up after it happened a few times and asked them to stop calling me. There was a lot of discrimination once Inzamam-ul-Haq left."

Kaneria is the fourth-highest wicket-taker for Pakistan in Tests, bagging 261 scalps in 61 Tests. His career came to a premature end after he was handed a life ban by the England and Wales Cricket Board for spot-fixing.

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"Had I converted to Islam, I think I would have captained Pakistan" - Danish Kaneria

Danish Kaneria also spoke about how several Pakistanis wanted him to convert to Islam. He claimed that had he done that, he would have had a longer cricketing career, including a captaincy stint.

"Had I converted to Islam, I think I would have captained Pakistan and broken everyone's records," he said.

The 42-year-old further highlighted that the situation in India is much better compared to Pakistan. Kaneria cited the example of Virat Kohli coming to Mohammed Shami's rescue after the latter was subjected to online hate.

"All the communities in India live together very peacefully. When Mohammed Shami was trolled, Virat Kohli was the first to come in his support. This never happened during my playing days. No Pakistani player made such statements for me. In India, everyone is treated as an equal," he added (10:35).

It is worth noting that Kohli publicly slammed the people attacking Mohammed Shami over his religion following India's loss to Pakistan in the 2021 T20 World Cup.