Former Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Hafeez, who previously labelled Virat Kohli as selfish during the ODI World Cup 2023, reiterated his stance, affirming that he stands by his statement against the star India batter.
In a recent conversation on the Club Prairie Fire podcast, Mohammad Hafeez said he was right at that time to call Kohli selfish. The podcast also included former cricketers such as Michael Vaughan and Adam Gilchrist. When asked about his comments on Kohli, he said, “I think I was right that time. If you look at the whole context, to me, no matter who is playing, your intention should always be to win the game. To me, your intent should always remain the same: to do whatever's the best way you can add value to the team.”
“If someone stops himself from playing big shots in the 90s, I will never take it. After 95, if someone is taking five balls to get to his hundred, and if his intention changes after the hundred... why couldn't he play the same shot when he was on 95 or 92?”
“Because to me, your intent should always remain the same to do the best possible way to add that value to your team. In that game, I felt Virat took a lot of balls to get to his hundred, and he was not playing big shots."
He added, “If you go through his century once again, maybe you will realise what I was saying. To me, personal milestones should go away from cricket. We don't want to watch your 50, 100 or a 5-wicket if that is not on the winning cause because, in the game of cricket, even one run matters the most."
“I saw a sense of selfishness in Virat Kohli’s batting, which 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, but he didn’t put the team first,” the former Pakistan captain had said on a cricket show, Top Cricket Analysis. Here is the video of his statement in 2023.
