'Need to be a bit more selfish like Virat': Michael Vaughan's tussle with Mohammad Hafeez continues

Pakistan finished fifth in the points table after losing to England in Kolkata to end their 2023 World Cup campaign. Pakistan's ambitions of making it to the last four diminished when England decided to bat; Babar Azam's team needed to win by at least 287 runs, and their chances of qualifying were much more difficult when they batted second. Pakistan faced an unlikely situation as England scored a massive 337/9, making it impossible for them to attain the goal in just 6.4 overs.

3 things you need to know

• Pakistan crashed out of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023
• Pakistan lost to England by 93 runs in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023
• Pakistan finished 5th on the points table

Also Read | Pakistan play old school cricket to end World Cup with embarrassing defeat against England

Pakistan crashes out of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023

Even though it was evident at the mid-innings break that Pakistan's chances of making it into the World Cup semi-finals were over, they did not present a competitive batting display and were bundled out at 244 to suffer their fifth defeat of the tournament. This presented an opportunity for former England captain Michael Vaughan to take a further jibe at Pakistan. Vaughan accepted it and once again tagged Mohammad Hafeez in his slithering post. The two had been targeting each other on social media for the previous few weeks.

The verbal spat between the two started when Vaughan made the funny observation that controversy motivates Pakistan to play better and that there has to be controversy prior to every World Cup. Hafeez responded to Vaughan by drawing attention to David Willey's retirement, during which he concentrated on problems with his contract with the ECB.

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Vaughan mentions Hafeez again

Vaughan chastised Hafeez once more for his comments on Virat Kohli, labelling the Indian batsman's century knock against South Africa "selfish". Even a video of Kohli dismissing Hafeez was shared by the former England captain, and it quickly gained popularity on social media. Vaughan referenced Hafeez's "selfish" comment about Kohli when Pakistan was eliminated from the competition on Saturday, suggesting that Pakistan's batters ought to act similarly in order to increase their chances of winning.

With three wins from nine games, England finished the tournament in sixth position. However, the victory over Pakistan guaranteed them a spot in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.