Former Pak seamer says he heard Michael Vaughan’s racial comments

Former Pakistan seamer Rana Naved-ul-Hasan confirmed that he he heard Michael Vaughan making racially insensitive comments to a group of Asian players at Yorkshire. These reports come as former player Azeem Rafiq claimed that he was often called a ‘Paki’ during his time at the club. 

Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, talking to ESPN, quoted former England captain Vaughan saying, “There’s too many of you lot, we need to do something about it.” He was referring to Asians. Naved was the club’s overseas player at the time and played alongside Azeem Rafiq at Trent Bridge in 2009. The two were among four players of Asian heritage in the Yorkshire team. 

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Naved said that he is prepared to provide evidence to any inquiry as required.

Rafiq claimed Vaughan told a group of Asian players that there were “too many of you lot, we need to do something about it”. The former England captain “completely and categorically” denied allegations of racial discrimination against him. He said he will “fight” to clear his name from the ongoing controversy.

“I completely and categorically deny that I ever said those words. This hit me very hard. It was like being struck over the head with a brick. I have been involved in cricket for 30 years and never once been accused of any remotely similar incident or disciplinary offence as a player or commentator,” Vaughan said in a column of the Daily Telegraph. 

His former teammate Gary Ballance had admitted that he had been the player who had used the racial slur “Paki” in conversations with Rafiq.

  The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) banned YCCC from hosting international matches for failing to act on former all-rounder Rafiq’s allegations. The charges were found to be true by an independent inquiry, which called the club’s approach “abhorrent”.  

Yorkshire chairman Roger Hutton tendered his resignation, citing an unwillingness by the club to accept the claims and a refusal to apologize.