Warne is inspiration for Kanaria

Pakistan's Danish Kanaria, who seized his Test best of six for 42 on Wednesday, took up leg-spin bowling because he admired the exploits of Shane Warne.

With the Australian maestro as his inspiration, Kanaria helped to bundle out Bangladesh for 134 on the opening day of the Asian Test championship match.

However, 20-year-old Kanaria modestly said his success was due only to the inexperience of his opponents.

"Their batsmen don't have enough experience at this level and are still not able to stay at the wicket for long periods," the wrist spinner said.

Kanaria, who was playing in only his third Test, said: "The seniors have supported me a lot and I have improved my bowling in the training camp and also in the cricket academy.

"I think the tour with the Pakistan A team to Sri Lanka in June made me a better bowler. The coach Mudassar Nazar gave me a lot of guidance on how to bowl on different types of wickets," he added.

The Karachi-born Kanaria is only the second Hindu to play for Pakistan, a Muslim country.

"I just hope I can repeat my performance in the second innings. The wicket is good for my type of bowling," he said.

Veteran opener Saeed Anwar, who pressed home Pakistan's advantage by smashing 101, his first Test century since June 2000, said the innings was a relief after injury lay-offs and a prolonged lean spell.

"I am happy because I was able to concentrate for a long period and get a big score," said Anwar, who missed most of Pakistan's matches last year due to a knee operation.

His last 10 Test innings before Wednesday brought him a modest total of 183 runs.

"I was getting 30s and 40s but was not able to concentrate for longer periods. Today I did that even though I concede the bowling attack was not that strong," he said.

"But any test hundred is important...as it requires the batsman to concentrate a lot."

Mail Cricket Editor