Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Banned Kaneria finally comes clean over cheating scandal

Banned Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria on Thursday (18) said he finally confessed to spot-fixing after years of denial to get closure for his mistakes and sought forgiveness from the country's "shocked" cricket community.

"I just want the cricket board, my fans and the Pakistani people to understand my situation and forgive me. I made a grave mistake in associating with a bookmaker (Anu Bhatt) and not reporting it to the concerned authorities and I have paid the price for it," Kaneria said.


"I am gutted at the moment because it is not easy to come out like this after basically lying for six years. I had to do it now because it was a burden on me and I just couldn't take the stigma of being called a spot-fixer any longer and denying it," Kaneria said.

Kaneria, who will turn 38 in December and who took 261 wickets in 61 Tests, said he wanted to rebuild his life and hoped the cricket authorities would accept his apology and show compassion.

"What I did was very wrong...I hope the people forgive me," he said.

"My accounts have been checked in this case and they can be checked again. My mistake was getting close to this guy, (alleged match-fixer) Anu Bhatt who became like a family friend to us after he came to Pakistan and we went to India in 2005/06. He virtually started blackmailing me," he added.

Kaneria is serving a life ban since 2012 for indulging in spot-fixing in English county matches. The ban was imposed on him by the English Cricket Board.

"I can give back to the game by telling all young players don't get involved in these things and stay away from people like Anu Bhatt," he asserted.

But Pakistan's cricket community was left "shocked and betrayed".

"I am gutted because in the early days when Danish's case came up. I met with the Pakistan Cricket Board officials with his case documents to convince them that he (Kaneria) should be heard by the PCB. I believed he was innocent," Pakistan's former Test captain Rashid Latif said.

Latif said Kaneria's confession was a big let-down for the Pakistan cricket community.

"...you can't help feel being betrayed by him," Latif said.

Former leg-spinner Abdul Qadir said Kaneria's confession was a big blow to the image of Pakistan cricket.

"God knows what these players think about. We get publicity for all the wrong reasons, spot-fixing and doping cases. I am really sad today to hear about Kaneria's confession after he lied to all of us for six years," Qadir said.

Former Test opener, chief selector and national team coach Mohsin Khan said he felt let down but was also sympathetic.

"But I also think Kaneria has done the right thing now even after six years. I think his conscience was bothering him. He is already serving a life ban since 2012.

"Perhaps the authorities can talk to him and try to reduce his ban because worst has happened in Pakistan cricket," he said.

The ECB banned the leg-spinner for life and also sent his Essex teammate, Mervyn Westfield to jail for his involvement in the matter.

Kaneria played his last Test on the tour of England in 2010 after which the PCB withdrew him from the squad when it was reported that the English Cricket Board was investigating the leg-spinner for fixing in county matches.

It was on the 2010 tour of England that Pakistan's then captain Salman Butt and pace bowlers, Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Aamir were also found involved in spot-fixing and later banned for five-years each.

The trio completed there bans in 2016 and are back playing cricket. While Aamir has made a comeback to the Pakistan team, Butt and Asif are playing regular domestic cricket.

Last year the PCB also launched an investigation into spot-fixing in the Pakistan Super League and and as a result of the inquiries, batsmen, Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif, Shahzaib Hasan and Nasir Jamshed were banned for differing periods.

More For You

Nitin Ganatra art exhibition

Through abstract forms, bold colour, and layered compositions

thelax.art

Nitin Ganatra debuts first solo art exhibition in London’s Soho

Highlights:

  • Fragments of Belonging is Nitin Ganatra’s first solo exhibition
  • Opens Saturday, September 27, at London Art Exchange in Soho Square
  • Show explores themes of memory, displacement, identity, and reinvention
  • Runs from 3:30 PM to 9:00 PM, doors open at 3:15 PM

From screen to canvas

Actor Nitin Ganatra, known for his roles in EastEnders, Bride & Prejudice, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, is embarking on a new artistic chapter with his debut solo exhibition.

Titled Fragments of Belonging, the show marks his transition from performance to painting, presenting a deeply personal series of works at the London Art Exchange in Soho Square on September 27.

Keep ReadingShow less
Baiju Bhatt

At 40, Bhatt is the only person of Indian origin in this group, which includes figures such as Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg. (Photo: Getty Images)

Baiju Bhatt named among youngest billionaires in US by Forbes

INDIAN-AMERICAN entrepreneur Baiju Bhatt, co-founder of the commission-free trading platform Robinhood, has been named among the 10 youngest billionaires in the United States in the 2025 Forbes 400 list.

At 40, Bhatt is the only person of Indian origin in this group, which includes figures such as Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg. Forbes estimates his net worth at around USD 6–7 billion (£4.4–5.1 billion), primarily from his roughly 6 per cent ownership in Robinhood.

Keep ReadingShow less
Mandelson-Getty

Starmer dismissed Mandelson on Thursday after reading emails published by Bloomberg in which Mandelson defended Jeffrey Epstein following his 2008 conviction. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Minister says Mandelson should never have been appointed

A CABINET minister has said Peter Mandelson should not have been made UK ambassador to the US, as criticism mounted over prime minister Keir Starmer’s judgment in appointing him.

Douglas Alexander, the Scotland secretary, told the BBC that Mandelson’s appointment was seen as “high-risk, high-reward” but that newly revealed emails changed the situation.

Keep ReadingShow less
​Dilemmas of dating in a digital world

We are living faster than ever before

AMG

​Dilemmas of dating in a digital world

Shiveena Haque

Finding romance today feels like trying to align stars in a night sky that refuses to stay still

When was the last time you stumbled into a conversation that made your heart skip? Or exchanged a sweet beginning to a love story - organically, without the buffer of screens, swipes, or curated profiles? In 2025, those moments feel rarer, swallowed up by the quickening pace of life.

Keep ReadingShow less
Comment: Mahmood’s rise exposes Britain’s diversity paradox

Shabana Mahmood, US homeland security secretary Kristi Noem, Canada’s public safety minister Gary Anandasangaree, Australia’s home affairs minister Tony Burke and New Zealand’s attorney general Judith Collins at the Five Eyes security alliance summit on Monday (8)

Comment: Mahmood’s rise exposes Britain’s diversity paradox

PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer’s government is not working. That is the public verdict, one year in. So, he used his deputy Angela Rayner’s resignation to hit the reset button.

It signals a shift in his own theory of change. Starmer wanted his mission-led government to avoid frequent shuffles of his pack, so that ministers knew their briefs. Such a dramatic reshuffle shows that the prime minister has had enough of subject expertise for now, gambling instead that fresh eyes may bring bold new energy to intractable challenges on welfare and asylum.

Keep ReadingShow less