'Yeh konsa nasha...': Harbhajan Singh slams Inzamam over conversion claims

Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh on Tuesday slammed former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq for the latter's claims that Singh was influenced by the teachings of the controversial Maulana Tariq Jameel and wanted to convert to Islam. 

Singh rubbished these claims and asserted that he is a proud Indian and Sikh.

"Yeh kon sa nasha pee kar baat kar raha hai ? I am a proud Indian and proud Sikh..yeh Bakwaas log kuch bi bakte hai (What has he consumed before saying all this? I am a proud Indian and proud Sikh... These rubbish people talk nonsense)," Singh, also known fondly as Turbanator, wrote in a post on X formerly Twitter. 

Inzamam-ul-Haq, who is also a prominent member of the Tablighi Jamaat, can be seen saying in a video that Singh reportedly told him that his heart tells him to accept whatever Maulana Tariq Jameel says. 

"Harbhajan once told me that my heart tells me that whatever he (Maulana) says, I should accept it. I said then follow him. What's stopping you? Bhajji replied that I look at you and then stop. Your life is not like this. It is we who are not following our religion. We should be held guilty," the former cricketer, also known as Inzi Bhai, says in the video. 

He also said that Maulana Tariq Jameel used to meet the players everyday and talk to them after namaz. The Pakistani players used to call Indian players Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan and Mohammed Kaif to offer namaz. 

"Maulana Tariq Jameel used to come to meet us every day. There was a room for offering namaz. He used to talk to us after namaz. After a day or two, we started calling Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan and Mohammed Kaif to offer. I saw that 2-3 more Indian players also used to join, they did not offer namaz but used to listen to Maulana," he said. 

Inzamam-ul-Haq was last in the news after he resigned as the Chief Selector of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) over conflict of interest allegations linked to the Babar Azam-led team's dismal World Cup 2023 campaign.

Inzamam was accused of holding a position in a company that allegedly contracted many Pakistani players for marketing and commercial promotions.

This was his second tenure as the selector with PCB. Inzamam-ul-Haq's first tenure as selector ended in acrimony after the 2019 World Cup where Pakistan could not qualify for the semi-final stage. 

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