Former India cricketer Wasim Jaffer, who recently quit as Uttarakhand coach owing to a dispute with the state association, on Wednesday rejected allegations that he tried to force religion-based selections in the team.

The 42-year-old, who played 31 Tests for India and is a celebrated name in domestic cricket, said the charge that he favoured Muslim players, which was allegedly levelled by Cricket Association of Uttarakhand secretary Mahim Verma in a media report, had caused him immense pain.

Jaffer had resigned on Tuesday citing “interference and bias of selectors and the association’s secretary for non-deserving players” as the reason.

“...jo communal angle lagaya (the communal angle that has been brought up), that is very, very sad,” Jaffer is quoted as saying by PTI in a virtual press conference.

For a while, after the story broke, no ex-cricketers spoke up for Jaffer but a few have now come out and publicly lent their support to the ex-India opener: