Danish Kaneria will end his career as the highest wicket-taking spinner for Pakistan - itself an achievement - but whether or not he will be the best this country has ever produced will not be as straightforward a conclusion.

Kaneria, only the second Hindu to play for Pakistan, has many admirable traits, many necessary to make a good legspinner. His height purchases good bounce - though not always flight - and he can turn the ball significantly. Though the googly is overexposed, Richie Benaud once reckoned it to be among the best-disguised he had seen. Above all he has perseverance, and right or wrong, has served often as shock and stock bowler.

But something has been missing, the unknown that makes great leggies great. It is not so much in the tools, but in the persona and a peculiar lack of guile, especially if he is to be compared to countrymen such as Abdul Qadir and Mushtaq Ahmed; both had a wonderful presence. In turn he has also lacked a good captain, or always good supporting bowlers at the other end. Latterly he has suffered the lack of even an able wicketkeeper.

He has been an ever-present in the Test side since 2004 and his best period was in the years that followed immediately; critical spells came around the world, against Sri Lanka, England and West Indies and lionhearted ones against Australia and India. But he hasn't kicked on since. Often he will turn an innings, bowling as brightly as Pakistan has always hoped. But mostly he is a reliable run-controller and his strike rate has expanded alarmingly over the years. Tellingly, perhaps, he hasn't been part of Pakistan's limited-overs thinking at all for years.
Osman Samiuddin

• November 29, 2000
  Tough debut
  • Makes Test debut in the second Test against England in Faisalabad. Takes 2 for 89 and goes wicketless in the second innings. Tough initiation into Test cricket on a lifeless pitch. He's only the second Hindu to play Tests for Pakistan, after his cousin Anil Dalpat.
    
• August 29-31, 2001
  Wicket aplenty
  • Match haul of 12 for 94 against Bangladesh in the Asian Test Championship in Multan. Takes six wickets in each innings, his first match-winning performance.
    
• May 20, 2003
  Success in the shorter version
  • Takes 3 for 31 in a one-day international against New Zealand in Dambulla, his best ODI bowling figures to date. Helps Pakistan snatch a low-scorer.
    
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• October 17-21, 2003
  South Africa humbled
  • Takes 5 for 46 in the second innings to set up Pakistan's eight-wicket win in the first Tests against South Africa at the Gaddafi Stadium.
    
• October 28-November 1, 2004
  Sri Lanka flummoxed
  • Takes a ten-wicket haul, including 7 for 118 in the second innings, to help Pakistan to a six-wicket win in Karachi and square the two-Test series against Sri Lanka. He then signs a new two-year deal with Essex.
    
• December 2004-January 2005
  More wickets but no joy
  • Takes his first five-wicket haul outside the subcontinent. At the MCG, he toils nearly 40 overs for figures of 5 for 125 but Pakistan are thrashed by nine wickets. He follows it up with an innings haul of 7 for 188 at the spin-friendly SCG. The Test ends on a sour not when he's fined his entire match fee for showing dissent.
    
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• March 2005
  Fine display in India
  • In the 2005 tour of India, Kaneria finishes the overall leading wicket-taker with 19 scalps at 31.52. He takes two five-wicket hauls, one of which comes in Pakistan's series-leveling win in Bangalore.
    
• June 3-7, 2005
  Starring in the Caribbean
  • Takes 5 for 46 at Sabina Park to help Pakistan level the two-Test series in the West Indies. It's Pakistan's first Test win in the region since 1988.
    
• September 2005
  Essex's hero
  • Takes 16 wickets in ten one-day games to help Essex to the National League Division One title. But he's still in and out of the Pakistan ODI side.
    
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• January 19-22, 2007
  South Africa conquered again
  • After a lukewarm 2006, Kaneria starts the new year in style with a match haul of 7 for 141 in Port Elizabeth to help Pakistan to a five-wicket win. His 3 for 36 in the first innings bundles South Africa out for 124. Recalled to the ODI side for the World Cup.
    
• October 2007
  Achieving the 200-wicket milestone
  • During the home series against South Africa, Kaneria reaches the milestone of 200 Test wickets and is the country's leading wicket-taker since 2000.
    
• December 2009
  Proving a point
  • Takes 13 wickets in two Tests in New Zealand to re-establish himself as the spin-spearhead for Pakistan.
    
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