Wasim Jaffer denies inviting cleric to Uttarakhand team camp; 'resigned due to CAU bias'

Former Uttarakhand coach Wasim Jaffer set the record straight on his tiff with the state cricket association and cited the bias of the officials as the reason for his resignation. The 42-year-old coach, who was roped in by the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand (CAU) in June 2020, refuted the claims of favouring players of a particular faith in the team and asserted that the 'communal angle' brought up is very wrong. On Wednesday, Jaffer took to Twitter to highlight four crucial points that led to his exit from the Uttarakhand cricket team. 

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The former Indian cricketer noted that he had recommended Jay Bista as the captain of the side and not Iqbal Abdullah and revealed that the latter was favoured by the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand (CAU) officials. Addressing the issue of Maulvis attending the camp in Dehradun, Jaffer clarified that had not invited the clerics. Earlier on Wednesday, Jaffer had told PTI that it was Iqbal Abdullah's idea to invite Maulvis to the bio-bubble for offering Friday namaz prayers. The former Indian Test cricketer further revealed that he had resigned owing to the alleged bias of the selectors and the secretary towards non-deserving players in the state. Jaffer also pointed out that he had merely suggested using 'Go Uttarakhand' slogan instead of the Sikh community chant used by the team. 

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Jaffer resigns ahead of Vijay Hazare Trophy 

Days before entering the bubble for the Vijay Hazare tournament, Wasim Jaffer tendered his resignation as the head coach of Uttarakhand over alleged 'interference in the team selection' on Tuesday. The 50-over tournament is set to begin on February 20 after BCCI gave its nod for limited-overs tournaments and cancelling the Ranji Trophy 2019-20 season. In an e-mail to the Uttarakhand Cricket Association, Jaffer wrote, "I feel really sad for the players as I genuinely think that they have lots of potential and can learn so much from me but are denied this opportunity because of so much interference and bias of selectors and secretary in the selection matters for non-deserving players." 

READ | Wasim Jaffer Resigns As Uttarakhand Head Coach, Alleges Interference In Selection Matters

However, Cricket Association of Uttarakhand's secretary Mahim Verma has refuted Jaffer's allegations and stated that the former India opener was provided with everything that he asked for. As per reports, Jaffer had also picked his own support staff after taking control of the team. Moreover, Verma expressed displeasure over Uttarakhand's performance in the recently-concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament. Jaffer's men managed to bag only one win out of the five matches played forcing their exit from the group stage of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. 

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