Former Pakistan cricketer Mohammed Hafeez has yet again called Indian batters Virat Kohli and KL Rahul ‘selfish’ for playing for personal milestones during the 50-over World Cup last year. 

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After Kohli smashed an unbeaten 101 in India’s 243-run win over South Africa at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Hafeez created controversy by calling the Indian batter ‘selfish’. Nearly seven months later, Hafeez has doubled down on his version. 

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“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 couldn’t get his own hundred,” said Hafeez on the Club Praire Fire Podcast with Adam Gilchrist and Michael Vaughan.

“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 went ballistic and called out Kohli for not playing safe and consuming additional deliveries while nearing a milestone.  

“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 can’t 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. 

What Hafeez commented?

Kohli reached his 49th ton in the match to equal Sachin Tendulkar’s long-standing record. Kohli reached his hundred in 121 deliveries while smashing 10 boundaries. It was his innings that helped India post a healthy target of 327 as South Africa collapsed on a lowly total of 83. 

Hafeez, part of a Pakistani cricket panel, analysed the innings and said he saw ‘selfishness’ in the Indian no. 3. 

“I saw a sense of selfishness in Virat Kohli’s batting and this happened for the third time in this World Cup. In the 49th over, he was looking to take a single to reach his own hundred and he didn’t put the team first. Rohit Sharma could have played selfish cricket too, but he didn’t because he is playing for Team India and not for himself.”

While India reached the final of the World Cup, Pakistan crashed out of the group stage of the tournament. 

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