Azeem Rafiq, who recently opened up about the racism he suffered at Yorkshire, has been accused of sending "vulgar" messages to a teenage girl six years ago.
According to a Yorkshire Post report, Gayathri Ajith was only 16 when she met Rafiq but said she told him she was 17 in order to appear a "bit older".
The report further states that the cricketer sent inappropriate WhatsApp messages to Gayathri in December 2015, three months after they met on a flight from Manchester to Dubai. Moreover, she rejected an invitation from Rafiq for dinner in Dubai.
Screenshots of texts from a number belonging to Rafiq, sent in December 2015, read: "u know what I wanted to do on the plane?" and "I want to grab you push u up against wall and kiss you".
"I was just kind of shocked by the crudity of those messages. They were just so vulgar," she told the Yorkshire Post, terming the texts as "creepy".
Reacting to the allegations, a spokesman for Rafiq told Yorkshire Post: "This was put to us late on a Friday evening. We need to look into this, so cannot comment further for now."
Gayathri Ajith also questioned some bit of Rafiq's racism allegations against the Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
"I'm not disputing any of his racism claims, because I'm sure they're very true experiences. But certain aspects of what he said just don't really sit right with me.
"If he was being forced to drink by his teammates, then surely that wouldn't then mean he would be drinking alone on a flight and encouraging a 17-year-old girl to be drinking with him."
She added: "His behaviour towards me was a direct contradiction really of what he said in his testimony.
"He's calling for equality and respect, but why is he not embodying that in all aspects? Especially in his tone towards women. It's hypocrisy.
"He is being put on this pedestal for inciting systemic change, but he's really contributing to the problem of the vulgar attitudes towards women. The whole nature of that doesn't sit right with me."
This development comes two days after Rafiq apologized for using anti-Semitic language in Facebook messages from 2011.
British newspaper The Times of London reported it has seen an exchange of messages that appear to have been sent between Rafiq and another former cricketer, Ateeq Javid, and exchanges contain derogatory comments about an unnamed Jewish person.
Taking to Twitter, Rafiq confirmed that he did send the messages and wrote: “I am ashamed of this exchange and have now deleted it so as not to cause further offense. I was 19 at the time and I hope and believe I am a different person today. I am incredibly angry at myself and I apologize to the Jewish community and everyone who is rightly offended by this.”
Last week, Azeem Rafiq testified through tears at a parliamentary hearing while recounting his experiences of racism and bullying at Yorkshire.
Several former and current English cricketers, including Michael Vaughan, find themselves in hot water after Rafiq's allegations of "institutional racism" at the Yorkshire Country Cricket Club.
(With PTI Inputs)
