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Former England captain Michael Vaughan and Pakistan's Cricket Director Mohammad Hafeez took a friendly selfie after some social media banter. The meeting took place on Day 1 of the first Test between Australia and Pakistan at Optus Stadium in Perth on December 14.
The two ex-cricketers had expressed contrasting opinions on Virat Kohli's batting and approach to pacing innings during the recently concluded ODI World Cup 2023. Hafeez had criticised the Indian superstar batter, while Vaughan had come to his defence.
Hafeez's criticism revolved around Kohli's tactics in the 49th over of a game against South Africa, where he indicated that Kohli prioritised achieving a personal milestone over the team's requirements.
Vaughan also brought up the fact that Hafeez was one of the eight dismissals at the hands of Kohli's bowling in T20I cricket. Specifically, Hafeez was bowled out by Kohli in a T20 World Cup match between India and Pakistan in Colombo in 2012.
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However, the two seemed happy to see each other in Perth and shared a friendly selfie. Vaughan shared the photo on social media platform X, expressing delight at the opportunity to reconnect with Hafeez.
"Great to catch up with @MHafeez22 in #Perth," Vaughan posted on 'X'.
Hafeez had also advised Vaughan to refrain from getting involved in Pakistan cricket's matters after Vaughan criticised the treatment of Babar following Pakistan's disappointing ODI World Cup campaign.
Subsequently, he stepped down from captaincy across all formats, with Shan Masood appointed as the new Test skipper and Shaheen Shah Afridi assuming leadership responsibilities in ODIs and T20Is.
Currently, Pakistan are competing against Australia in the first Test of the three-match series. The team has never secured a Test series victory 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
(Powered by AI, Inputs by India Today)
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