In a surprising turn of events, former England captain Michael Vaughan and Pakistan’s Director of Cricket, Mohammad Hafeez, buried the hatchet after weeks of friendly banter on social media. The reconciliation happened during Day 1 of the first Test between Australia and Pakistan at the Optus Stadium in Perth.
The cricket banter between the two veterans initiated when they expressed differing opinions on Virat Kohli’s performance and batting strategy during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. Hafeez criticized Kohli’s approach in a particular over, accusing him of prioritizing personal milestones over the team’s objectives. Vaughan, on the other hand, defended the Indian cricket star.
Adding spice to the exchange, Michael Vaughan reminded Hafeez of being one of the eight victims of Kohli’s bowling in a T20 World Cup match back in 2012.
Despite the online sparring, the two cricketers were all smiles when they met in person in Perth. Vaughan shared a friendly selfie on the social media platform X, expressing joy at catching up with Hafeez.
“Great to catch up with @MHafeez22 in #Perth,” Michael Vaughan posted.
Michael Vaughan and Mohammad Hafeez troll
Earlier, Mohammad Hafeez had urged Michael Vaughan to refrain from commenting on Pakistan cricket matters. This advice came after Michael Vaughan criticized the treatment of Babar Azam following Pakistan’s disappointing ODI World Cup campaign.
Eventually, Babar stepped down from captaincy across all formats, with Shan Masood and Shaheen Shah Afridi taking over leadership roles in Tests and ODIs/T20Is, respectively.
Currently, Pakistan is facing Australia in the first Test of a three-match series, aiming to break a longstanding streak as they haven’t won a Test series against Australia and last won a Test match on Australian soil in 1995.
Australia Starting XI:
David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (C), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
Pakistan Starting XI:
Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood (C), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Aamer Jamal, Khurram Shahzad
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