Danish Kaneria - Pakistan - Bowler

By weight of statistics, Danish Kaneria finished as the Pakistan's best spinner, taking 261 Test wickets, 25 more than Abdul Qadir. However the debate on whether Kaneria was better than the latter still rages on.

Sadly, Kaneria's reputation suffered a massive blow when he was found guilty of spot-fixing along with Essex team-mate, Melvyn Westfield in English county cricket in 2012. In light of all the inquiries, Kaneria was banned for life from playing county cricket in England and Wales.

As a leggie, Kaneria had a quirky action but maintained a good loop and often gained extra bounce to catch even the best of batsmen off guard. Another notable aspect about Kaneria was that he did not overuse his googly - it was reserved as a surprise weapon. He claimed four 7-fers in Tests, incuding two such efforts in Sydney and Napier.

He initially took his time to come to terms with the tempo of international cricket but once he got a hang of it, Kaneria went on to become an essential cog in Pakistan's bowling attack even in foreign conditions. His ODI career though was limited to 18 matches. He would have also flourished in ODIs had his captains encouraged him to attack rather than perform a 'holding role'.

The emergence of Saeed Ajmal pushed him to the back burner. Later on, the English county stint happened and as did the expulsion.

Interesting Facts:
1. Danish Kaneria was only the second Hindu cricketer to play for Pakistan.
2. Apart from England, he bagged a 5-wicket haul against every Test playing nation.

By Cricbuzz Staff