Azeem Rafiq alleged to have sent 'creepy' messages to teenage girl six years ago

Screen grab from Parliament TV of former cricketer Azeem Rafiq crying as he gives evidence at the inquiry into racism he suffered at Yorkshire County Cricket Club, at the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee on sport governance at Portcullis House in London. Picture date: Tuesday November 16, 2021.
Screen grab from Parliament TV of former cricketer Azeem Rafiq crying as he gives evidence at the inquiry into racism he suffered at Yorkshire County Cricket Club, at the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee on sport governance at Portcullis House in London. Picture date: Tuesday November 16, 2021.
House of Commons
Gareth Milner

By Gareth Milner


Published: 20/11/2021

- 12:20

Updated: 14/02/2023

- 11:55

Gayathri Ajith alleges that cricketer Azeem Rafiq sent her inappropriate messages in late 2015

Gayathri Ajith alleges that cricketer Azeem Rafiq sent her inappropriate messages in late 2015, three months after meeting on a flight from Manchester to Dubai.

She said she told Mr Rafiq that she was 17-years-old when they met, when she was only 16-years-old, reportedly turning down a dinner invite from the cricketer whilst in Dubai.


The Yorkshire Post reports that a mobile phone number belonging to the cricketer, and sent in 2015, read: "u know what I wanted to do on the plane?" and "I want to grab you push u up against wall and kiss you".

When she said "do you realise that I'm only 17?" she was asked: "Does tht mean it not allowed to want to kiss me" and “Wud u have let me kiss u?”.

Ms Ajith, described the alleged messages from Azeem Rafiq as “creepy” when she spoke to The Yorkshire Post, adding “I was just kind of shocked by the crudity of those messages. They were just so vulgar.”

She did not dispute his claims of racism but questioned the accusations of being forced to drink by teammates as “surely that wouldn’t then mean he would be drinking alone on a flight and encouraging a 17-year-old girl to be drinking with him."

A spokesman for Mr Rafiq told the newspaper that they were looking into the matter and couldn’t comment further at the time.

Racism whistleblower Azeem Rafiq has issued an apology after it was revealed he had sent anti-Semitic messages to a fellow player more than a decade ago.

Former Yorkshire spinner Rafiq has won widespread praise for his resolve in highlighting the issue of racial discrimination in cricket and appeared before a parliamentary select committee this week to lift the lid on his own bitter experiences.

He pointed the finger at a number of high-profile individuals during his Westminster appearance, but on Thursday he was forced to confront his own past shortcomings when The Times uncovered an exchange with former Warwickshire and Leicestershire player Ateeq Javid

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