Former India captain Anil Kumble has supported his one-time teammate Wasim Jaffer amidst the controversy which sees the former India opener being accused of being communal and biased in his selections during his tenure as the head coach of the Uttarakhand cricket team.
Cricket Association of Uttarakhand (CAU) secretary Mahim Verma and team manager Navneet Mishra had accused Jaffer, who became Uttarakhand coach in 2020, of demanding the presence of a maulavi inside the team bubble and preferring Muslim players in his team selection decisions.
Jaffer has rubbished all of these accusations and come forward in his own defense. He cited the interference of the CAU secretary and other officials in selection matters and him having no say in team matters as the reasons behind him resigning from the position, days before commencement of the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy tournament.
"The secretary Mahim Verma has a lot of interference, whenever you talk to him, he says to talk to him. There were many roadblocks and he never responded to me. Towards the end, they selected the team for Vijay Hazare Trophy and I was not kept in the loop.
They changed the captain, 11 players were changed, if things have to go down like this, then how can one work? I am not saying that I will select the team, but if you do not take my recommendation then what is the point of me being there," Jaffer told ANI.
Jaffer explained his stance on Twitter as well, clearing the air on each point of contention, and has received support from many quarters of the cricket community including that of former India coach Anil Kumble.
Kumble and Jaffer are part of the IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) coaching staff with Kumble being the head coach and director of operations and Jaffer being the batting coach.
Kumble backed Jaffer and tweeted, “With you Wasim. Did the right thing. Unfortunately it’s the players who’ll miss your mentorship.”
