Pakistani leg-spinner Danish Kaneria have admitted of being involved in spot fixing alongside his former Essex team-mate Mervyn Westfield. Kaneria was banned for a lifetime period by English cricket board(ECB) following fixing claims.
Westfield had admitted that he took £6000 to concede a fixed amount of runs in a single over during the Pro40 match against Durham in September 2009.
“My name is Danish Kaneria and I admit that I was guilty of the two charges brought against me by the England and Wales Cricket Board in 2012. I have become strong enough to make this decision because you cannot live a life with lies,” Danish Kaneria told Al Jazeera in a television documentary.
Kaneria was accused of being the link between Mervyn Westfield and the illegal better named Anu Bhatt.
“I want to apologise to Mervyn Westfield, my Essex team-mates, my Essex cricket club, my Essex cricket fans. I say sorry to Pakistan,” he added.
Kaneria, 37, last played for Pakistan in the Trent Bridge Test of 2010. He participated in first-class games till March 2012 before all the major cricket boards upheld the ECB ban under International Cricket Council guidance.
Second Hindu to play for Pakistan after Anil Dalpat
Kaneria was originally named Dinesh Kaneria before he changed his first name to Danish. He has roots from Surat in Gujarat from where his family migrated to Karachi in Pakistan before the Independence. His full name is Danish Prabha Shanker Kaneria.
