Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez Slams KL Rahul, Virat Kohli For ‘Selfish Approach’

Former Pakistan cricketer Mohammed Hafeez doubled down on his comments about the alleged selfish approach to the game of star India batters Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, calling them out for chasing their milestones over their team’s victory at the last year’s ODI World Cup held at home.

Speaking at the Club Praire Fire Podcast with cricket legends Adam Gilchrist and Michael Vaughan, Vaughan expressed his unhappiness with how KL Rahul did not look happy even hitting a six to finish off India’s campaign opener against Australia, as suggested by a picture of him sitting down on his knees and having expressions of surprise after hitting the winning shot. KL had scored 97* in the run-chase of 200 runs. (T20 World Cup 2024: Why Team India Players Wore Black Armbands In Super 8 Match Against Afghanistan? Read Here)

“I remember in the same tournament, KL Rahul played a fantastic shot over extra cover to finish the game off (vs Australia) and he was not happy that India won the game but was unhappy because he could not get his own hundred,” said Hafeez.

“This is a selfish approach and then the same happened when Virat Kohli did the same thing when he was more into his 100 than adding value to the team (vs South Africa),” he added.

Hafeez attacked Virat for allegedly prioritising his milestone over team’s score against South Africa, questioning why he did not play an attacking shot on his way towards the century in his nineties.

“After 95, if someone is taking five balls to get to his hundred and not thinking of hitting off those three or four balls, and if the intention gets changed after scoring a 100, why cannot I play the same shot on 95? So in that game (South Africa), Virat took a lot of balls to get to his 100 and he was not playing big shots,” Hafeez added.

Virat notably top-scored in the tournament, scoring 765 runs in 11 matches at an average of above 95, with three centuries and six fifties. His best score was 117. KL also had a brilliant World Cup, scoring 452 runs in 10 innings at an average of 75.33, with a century and two half-centuries. They could not get the trophy as Australia won by six wickets in the final held at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad last November.