Pakistan ended their campaign in the 2023 World Cup with a defeat to England in Kolkata, thus finishing at fifth spot in the points table. In a must-win game to secure a berth in the final-four, Pakistan's hopes were dashed when England opted to bat; Babar Azam's men required a win by at least 287 runs, and their qualification scenario was significantly trickier while batting second. With England posting a strong score of 337/9, Pakistan were left with an impossible scenario of reaching the target in just 6.4 overs.
Despite having clarity in the mid-innings break that their hopes for a World Cup semi-final spot had ended, Pakistan failed to put out a strong performance with the bat and were bowled out for 244, thus facing a fifth loss in the competition. And following their ouster from the tournament, former England cricketer Michael Vaughan took a savage dig at Pakistan's former captain Mohammad Hafeez; both had been taking aims at each other over the past few weeks on social media platform X.
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The war of words between the two began when Vaughan hilariously pointed out that controversies inspire Pakistan to perform better, and they should have controversies before every World Cup. Hafeez, in turn, took aim at Vaughan by pointing towards David Willey's retirement, where the English bowler focussed on contractual issues with ECB.
{{/usCountry}}The war of words between the two began when Vaughan hilariously pointed out that controversies inspire Pakistan to perform better, and they should have controversies before every World Cup. Hafeez, in turn, took aim at Vaughan by pointing towards David Willey's retirement, where the English bowler focussed on contractual issues with ECB.
{{/usCountry}}Vaughan again criticised Hafeez for the latter's remarks on Virat Kohli, calling the Indian batter “selfish” for going for a century during the match against South Africa. The former England captain even posted a video of Kohli dismissing Hafeez, which went viral on social media. As Pakistan were knocked out of the tournament on Saturday, Vaughan quoted Hafeez's “selfish” remark on Kohli and hinted that Pakistan batters should play selfishly as well, so they can have a better chance of winning.
“Maybe Pakistan batters need to be a bit more selfish like Virat @MHafeez22,” Vaughan wrote.
England's campaign concluded with a seventh-place finish, with three victories out of nine games. Nevertheless, the win over Pakistan secured their participation in the 2025 Champions Trophy.
With four victories and five losses, Pakistan narrowly surpassed Afghanistan (sixth spot) based on net run-rate.
Meanwhile, Mitchell Marsh's stellar performance steered Australia to an eight-wicket triumph over Bangladesh, underscoring their dominance as they advanced to the Cricket World Cup semifinals.