Former India cricketer Wasim Jaffer, who resigned from the post of Uttrakhand team coach due to differences with the Uttarakhand Cricket Association, on Wednesday dismissed allegations made against him by the secretary of the state association. The allegations were that he requested to bring a maulvi inside the team’s bio-bubble for the players to pray but later-on it was known that the required permission was already taken from the team manager. Another allegation was that he enforced religion-based selections in the Uttarakhand team. The allegations were made by the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand (CAU) and its team manager Navneet Mishra.
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In response to this controversy, Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter and wrote: “In the last few years, hate has been normalised so much that even our beloved sport cricket has been marred by it. India belongs to all of us. Do not let them dismantle our unity.”
People have had mixed reactions to this tweet by Gandhi. Some pointed out the incident of throwing black-ink on Sachin Tendulkar’s face by Congress workers in Kerala.
But suddenly, this issue has garnered political clout with Rahul Gandhi commenting on the issue. The CAU later back-tracked from the allegations and said that they never made any claims of Jaffer favoring a religion in team selection. He said the claims were made by manager Navneet Mishra and are analyzed by the CAU.
Also Read | Former India Cricketers Back Wasim Jaffer In Communal Bias Controversy
Previously cricketers like Kumble, Irfan Pathan and Mohammed Kaif spoke in favor of the ex-Indian opening batsman.
“With you Wasim. Did the right thing. Unfortunately it’s the players who’ll miss your mentor ship,” wrote Kumble.
Irfan Pathan wrote: “Unfortunate that you have to explain this.”
With Rahul Gandhi writing on this issue, there are chances that other politicians might as well give their opinions on this matter. Although Gandhi did not take any name, he was clearly referring to the Wasim Jaffer controversy.