JAFFER REFUTES ALLEGATIONS OF COMMUNAL BIAS

MUMBAI: “I feel ashamed to say that people have accused me this (communal bias),” said Wasim Jaffer while refuting all the allegations of religious bias levelled at him by the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand (CAU) officials.

On Tuesday, Jaffer resigned as the coach of Uttarakhand after he wasn’t consulted before selecting the team for the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

According to media reports in Uttarakhand, CAU officials have accused Jaffer of having a communal mindset and promoting religious activities. The reports stated that he stopped players from chanting religious slogans before the match, invited maulvis to offer namaaz in dressing room and favoured Muslim players.

“I was really sad (when I heard this). This is the lowest somebody can fall,” said Jaffer during a Zoom interaction with select media on Wednesday.

“Iqbal (Abdulla) took permission to call someone and offer namaaz as there were threefour other (Muslim) players as well. So, after finishing practice, on Fridays, we use to offer namaaz in the dressing room for five minutes. It happened on a couple of occasions and everyone knew about it, so I don’t understand why it has become an issue,” said the former India opener, who has played 31 Tests and is the top-scorer in the Ranji Trophy.

As for the reason for his resignation, he said: “Even without speaking to me the team was announced, then you changed the captain as well, you changed 10 players. That was the reason for my resignation.”

He added that he wanted a common slogan for the team before the start of the match and left it on players to decide about it. “When we reached Baroda for our group matches, I told them, “We are not playing as a community, we are playing for Uttarakhand” so our slogan should be for the team… something like ‘Go Uttarakhand’.”

“The idea was that as players were from different faith, let’s have a slogan which will be common for all,” said Jaffer.