Former England captain Michael Vaughan criticised former Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez for labelling Virat Kohli as 'selfish' after Kohli scored a century against South Africa at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday, November 6.
Dismissing Hafeez's remarks as 'nonsense,' Vaughan praised Kohli for his focused performance on a challenging batting pitch.
Vaughan expressed his disagreement on X.com, stating, "Come on @MHafeez22 !!! India have hammered 8 teams playing great cricket .. @imVkohli now has 49 tons and his last was an anchor role innings on a tricky pitch... His team won by over 200 !!!! This is utter nonsense.. #CWC2023 #India #Pakistan."
Hafeez had earlier commented that Kohli seemed to slow down in order to achieve his personal milestone of 49 ODI hundreds to equal former India legend Sachin Tendulkar's record. Hafeez suggested that instead of taking singles in the final overs, Kohli should have opted for big shots.
"In Virat Kohli's batting, I observed a hint of selfishness, and this has happened for the third time in this World Cup. In the 49th over, he appeared to be taking a single to reach his own hundred and didn't prioritize the team. Rohit Sharma could have played selfishly too, but he didn't, as he is playing for Team India, not for himself," Hafeez was quoted as saying earlier.
Kohli reached his century off 119 balls and was awarded the Player of the Match as the Men in Blue defeated the Proteas by 243 runs at the iconic venue.
Kohli also became the third batter, following Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma, to score over 500 runs for the Indian men's team in a single edition of the World Cup. He also secured his second century at the on ongoing mega event after scoring a hundred against Bangladesh on November 19 at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune.
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