Uttarakhand skipper Iqbal Abdullah has come out in support of former coach Wasim Jaffer, saying it was the team manager who had granted permission to invite a maulvi (Muslim religious scholar)to the dressing room for leading the Friday prayers during last month’s training session.

Jaffer stepped down as coach on February 9, citing "interference and bias of selectors and the association's secretary for non-deserving players" as the reason.

Subsequently, Cricket Association of Uttarakhand (CAU) secretary Mahim Verma alleged that Jaffer tried to force religion-based selections in the team and brought maulvi inside the bio-bubble.

See Also: “Unfortunate you have to explain this,” Irfan Pathan supports Wasim Jaffer

"We cannot offer Friday’s namaaz without a maulvi. We offered namaaz only when our practice got over at around 3:40 pm. I first asked Wasim bhai if I could call the maulvi for prayers. He told me to get permission from the team manager. I spoke to manager Navneet Mishra and he said, ‘koi nahi Iqbal, prayer-dharm first (no problem, prayer and religion is most important).

"The manager gave me the permission and that is why I asked the maulvi to lead the prayer," Iqbal told The Indian Express.

Iqbal Abdullah further stated that Jaffer never tried to communalize the team.

"If the bio-bubble was in place, would the team manager have given me permission to call the maulvi? If the manager had said ‘no’ I would not have called the maulvi," he said while speaking about the bio-bubble breach aspect.

"Wasim bhai always put the team first and never tried to communalize the team. As a cricketer, one never wants to hear such allegations. I spoke to Wasim bhai, he is hurt. These allegations are being made to divert from real issues."

Wasim Jaffer has also found support from the likes of former India skipper Anil Kumble on this issue.