A tall, wiry legspinner, and only the second Hindu to play Test cricket for Pakistan (the first, his cousin Anil Dalpat, was briefly their wicketkeeper), Danish Kaneria mastered some vital skills at an early age. His stock ball drifts into the batsman and he has a googly as cloaked as any in recent history.. His whirling approach is reminiscent of Abdul Qadir, and he has now picked up the baton from Mushtaq Ahmed as Pakistan's premier legspinner. Kaneria was hyped as a secret weapon when England toured Pakistan in 2000-01, and though his impact in the Test series was minimal, he has since made his mark. Initially he did so against the lesser lights of Bangladesh, but also in a home Test against South Africa, when his five-for won Pakistan the match. Since then, he has confirmed himself as a man capable of winning Tests, leading Pakistan to wins against Sri Lanka in Karachi in 2004 and against the West Indies in Jamaica in 2005. In between, two tours - to Australia and the graveyard of legspin, India - became arduous but satisfying stepping stones to the big league. In each series he outscalped the leading legspinners of our age, first Shane Warne, then Anil Kumble and although Pakistan lost the first series comprehensively, Kaneria's 19 wickets were crucial in securing a morale-boosting 1-1 draw in India. He struggled through much of 2006, not to take wickets, but to take them swiftly enough. It didn't help that he had no sustained support from the other end, as Pakistan suffered heavily from injuries to fast bowlers. But he ended the year upbeat with an improved performance in South Africa. It was enough to earn him a surprise recall into Pakistan's ODI squad for the 2007 World Cup, having not been a part of their plans in the last three years. It didn't last long, as limited to a couple of matches, he was swiftly dropped from the ODI squad soon after but returned to the team for the Test series against South Africa in October 2007.
Kamran Abbasi (October 2007)

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Jul 5, 2008 Danish Kaneria celebrates taking the wicket of Darren Gough © Getty Images

Jun 6, 2008 Essex's innings ends as Danish Kaneria is caught by Eoin Morgan © Cricinfo Ltd

Jun 6, 2008 Danish Kaneria pulls through midwicket © Cricinfo Ltd

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