On Friday, the Indian deputy skipper, Ajinkya Rahane decided not to comment on the controversy surrounding domestic stalwart, Wasim Jaffer, who is fighting allegations of making communal decisions during his stint as Uttarakhand coach. Jaffer, who quit as Uttarakhand coach owing to a dispute with the state association, has rejected the charge by the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand officials that he favored Muslim players in the team.

Explaining the same, Ajinkya Rahane said, “Sir, I don’t have an idea regarding this issue, what has happened, so I don’t think that I should comment on this topic, because I don’t have an idea.”

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Rahane and Jaffer, who is the leading scorer in the history of the Ranji Trophy, have together played for Mumbai and the West Zone. They also have played together for the Indian Oil Corporation.

The 42-year-old Jaffer, who played 31 Tests for India and is a celebrated name in domestic cricket, said the charge leveled by CAU’s secretary Mahim Verma in a media report, had caused him immense pain. Wasim Jaffer had submitted his resignation on Tuesday citing “interference and bias of selectors and the association’s secretary for non-deserving players” as the reason.

Explaining his side of the story, Wasim Jaffer said, “…jo communal angle lagaya (the communal angle that has been brought up), that is very, very sad. They leveled an allegation that I am in favor of Iqbal Abdulla, I wanted to make Iqbal Abdulla as the captain, which is absolutely wrong.”

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Jaffer had found support from spin legend Anil Kumble, a former Indian skipper and coach who currently heads the ICC’s cricket committee, among others. Former Indian cricketers Irfan Pathan, Manoj Tiwary, and former Mumbai batsman Shishir Hattangadi have also stood behind Jaffer on the issue.