Iqbal Abdulla Comes Out In Support Of Wasim Jaffer; Says Team Manager Gave The Permission To Call Maulvi

Uttarakhand skippet Iqbal Abdulla has come out in support of former Indian opener and domestic giant Wasim Jaffer following the massive controversy that ensued after the latter was accused of inciting communal passions in the Uttarakhand dressing room.

Recently, Wasim Jaffer resigned from the position of head coach of the Uttarakhand state team citing interference and bias of selectors and the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand (CAU).

However, soon after Jaffer offered his resignation, CAU secretary Mahim Verma and team manager Navneet Mishra alleged that the former opener was creating a communal divide in the dressing room and that he invited maulvi during the training sessions.

Jaffer had then taken to his official Twitter account to clarify his stance, post which several former cricketers including Anil Kumble came out in his support.

And, now Iqbal Abdulla has defended Wasim Jaffer by stating that it was the team-manager Navneet Mishra, who had given them permission to call maulvi for Friday prayers.

“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),” Iqbal Abdulla told the Indian Express.

“The manager gave me the permission and that is why I asked the maulvi to lead the prayer,” he added. If the bio-bubble was in place, would the team manager permitted mession to call the maulvi? If the manager had said ‘no’ I would not have called the maulvi,” Abdulla said.

Also Read: India vs England 2021: Had India Batted First They Could Have Put A Big Total As Well – Kevin Pietersen Feels England Got The Advantage Of Toss