Name: Danish Kaneria

Birth date: 1980-12-16

Hometown: Karachi

Teams: Pakistan, Essex, Habib Bank Limited, Karachi, Pakistan National Shipping Corporation, Pakistan Reserves

Debut: 29th Nov 2000

ODI Best: 3-31 | 3*

Test Best: 7-77 | 15

Danish Kaneria is a tall, skinny legspinner who made his Test debut for Pakistan against England at the end of 2000. It was an uneventful debut for the much hyped Kaneria but it brought him international recognition and he has nailed down his spot in the team.

He has to date has played 51 Test matches in which he has taken 220 wickets at an average of 33.90. He has taken wickets but they tend to come at a cost.

Kaneria has plenty of tricks in his armour, including a very useful googly but he has not utilised these to the fullest. Kaneria does not seem to be a thinking bowler, which is his undoing, he seems to go through his over’s bowling all his varieties without too much thought.

Danish Kaneria has cemented his spot in the Test side but has failed to make the breakthrough into the ODI side. In the limited matches he has not covered himself in glory, also his batting and fielding are shocking to say the least which are preventing him from getting a run in the side although in domestic cricket he has a good One Day record. He was a surprise inclusion in the 2007 World Cup squad but he was given limited chances in what was a disastrous tournament for Pakistan.

In Test cricket Kaneria has been inconsistent but has had some good series. He performed well in India in 2005, and also he did an admirable job in Australia in 2005-06 where he picked up more wickets than the legendary Shane Wa

He has largely been used as a stock bowler in his career, rushing through his over’s and sometimes bowling more than half of his team’s over’s in an innings. This has been a misuse of his talent.

There does not seem to be too many challengers to the legspinners spot so Danish Kaneria will continue in his role for some time to come, the talent is there but he needs to be utilised more effectively and more thought put into his bowling.