Η δανική Canius πάσχει από ένταση στην Ινδία Πακιστάν, μια φωτογραφία που αφαιρείται από το στάδιο Jaipur

The Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur has removed photos of Pakistani cricketers from their ‘wall of glory’. Since its creation in 1969, 21 matches have been played in men’s cricket at the stadium. And for every cricketer that has graced the ground, a photo of theirs is displayed.

Since Pakistan has played 1 Test and 4 ODIs there, a total of 25 cricketers from the nation have a photo in the Jaipur stadium. As of today, all have been removed. This includes the last Hindu player to ever play for Pakistan, Danish Kaneria. The move comes after rising tensions between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.

This isn’t the first time that photos of Pakistani cricketers have been removed from the ‘wall of glory’. Back in 2019, something similar had happened after the Pulwama terror attack. “All international players to have played here have their photographs on display at the stadium; among these, photos of Pakistani players have been removed,” the Rajasthan Cricket Association had said back then.

The reason why some might view Kaneria’s exclusion as shocking is because he’s been very vocal against Pakistani leaders. Some have even labelled him as ‘anti-Pakistan or pro-India’. He’s talked about being discriminated against due to his religion and often criticises Shahid Afridi, a polarising figure in cricket due to his inflammatory statements.

“I was doing well in my career and was playing county cricket too. Inzamam-ul-Haq supported me a lot and was the only captain who did so. Alongside him, Shoaib Akhtar. Shahid Afridi and many other Pakistan players troubled me a lot and didn’t eat with me. Shahid Afridi was the main person telling me to convert, and he did a lot of times. Inzamam-ul-Haq never used to talk that way,” Kaneria had told ANI a few days ago.