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 Secretary 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 Espncricinfo.