Anil Kumble, Manoj Tiwary and Vidarbha players support Jaffer after he is labelled communal

Former India captain and coach Anil Kumble has come in support of Wasim Jaffer who has been branded as communal by the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand. Pledging his support for Jaffer, Kumble also appreciated his decision of quitting as the coach of the Uttarakhand team.

India and Bengal cricketer Manoj Tiwary too came in support of Jaffer asking the Uttarakhand CM to intervene in the matter.

Apart from Kumble and Manoj Tiwary, players from Vidarbha spoke out in support of Jaffer, saying that he has been like an elder brother to them.

“It’s very shocking. I have played four seasons with him. He is just like a big brother to every Vidarbha player. He is a true gentleman. I have never found anything wrong in his conduct of behaviour with each player,” Faiz Fazal, the captain of the Vidarbha told Lokmat Times.

Jaffer played the last few years of his domestic cricket for Vidarbha, having moved away from his original home side of Mumbai. He even won two revered Ranji Trophy and two Irani Trophy titles back to back with Vidarbha.

Akshay Wadkar, the wicket-keeper of the Vidarbha team also supported Jaffer saying that the 42-year-old always favoured deserving players.

“Jaffer has always given first priority to the deserving players and the performances. I don’t think he will select the players on religion basis. In fact, he equally treated each player when he was playing with us. Such allegations are shocking for us,” said the gloveman.

Jaffer resigned from his position as Uttarakhand's head coach citing interference by the Secretary Mahim Verma in player selection. Verma, with the help of team manager Navneet Mishra, turned the interference accusation upside down, saying that Jaffer was communal in his team selection.

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Jaffer resigns as head coach of Uttarakhand, rubbishes 'communal' allegations

Former India Test cricketer and former coach of Uttarakhand, Wasin Jaffer rubbished the allegations of being ‘communal’ levelled at him by the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand Secreaty Mahim Verma. A day after tendering his resignation as head coach on the grounds of “interference and bias of selectors and the association’s secretary for non-deserving players”, Jaffer was called ‘communal’ by Verma. The 48-year-old then defended it saying, “...jo communal angle lagaya (the communal angle that has been brought up), that is very, very sad.” Making his stance clear in the matters, Jaffer tweeted, “1. I recommended Jay Bista for captaincy, not Iqbal but CAU officials favoured Iqbal. 2. I did not invite Maulavis 3. I resigned cos bias of selectors-secretary for non-deserving players 4. The team used to say a chant of Sikh community, I suggested we can say "Go Uttarakhand" #Facts” The allegations made against him were that he invited Moulvis in the dressing room, favoured Muslim prayers and changed the team chant, which was a sacred chant from the Sikh community. “Had I been communal, both Samad Fallah and Mohammad Nazim would have played all the games? It’s a very petty thing to say or even think. I wanted to give opportunities to newer players,” Jaffer, who played 31 Tests for India, added. He further said that he always chose players on the basis of merit and not on the basis of religion. Mahim Verma had earlier said that Jaffer’s interference had increased in the matters of team selection to a great level. “After the result in Mushtaq Ali did not meet our expectations, the selectors wanted to try out a few other players but he kept insisting on picking his own team, which is not right as selectors are there, too, to do their job,” Mahim was quoted as saying to Epncricinfo.