As the Three Lions continue to suffer in ODI cricket, former India opener Wasim Jaffer took a sarcastic dig at the side. Six years ago, England won the Cricket World Cup but have failed to live up to the expectations after that. While trolling the team, Wasim Jaffer also poke fun at Michael Vaughan by tagging him in his post.
With England suffering a chastening defeat at the hands of South Africa in the opening ODI match of their three-match series against the Proteas, being bowled out for just 131, the England team slipped down as far as eighth in the ICC’s men’s ODI rankings. This is well off the pace for a England team which lifted the ODI World Cup just 6 years ago and regularly wants to be considered amongst the world’s best across all formats.
The England cricket team suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of South Africa in the first ODI of the three-match series on September 2. The Three Lions were bowled out for 131 before opener Aiden Markram’s 55-ball 86 led the Proteas to a seven-wicket win at Headingley, Leeds. The hosts were dismissed in 24.3 overs as Keshav Maharaj took 4 for 22 and Wiaan Mulder 3 for 33. Opener Jamie Smith top-scored for England with 54 off 48 balls. South Africa chased down the paltry target with 175 balls to spare.
Wasim Jaffer makes a cheeky remark at Micheal Vaughan after England slip below Afghanistan in ICC rankings 2025
A fixture of the last few years of a burgeoning India-England rivalry has been the war of words online between former batters for each country. Wasim Jaffer and Michael Vaughan have regularly locked horns, especially on social media, happy to rub more salt into the wound whenever the other’s team suffers a poor result or a setback.
South Africa recently hammered England in the opening ODI game at the Leeds on Tuesday by seven wickets. Just after that, the England team faced cricticism from all quarters. In fact, former India cricketer Wasim Jaffer did not miss out as well. Wasim Jaffer too poked fun at his dear friend and former England captain Michael Vaughan. Sharing a screenshot of the latest ICC ODI rankings where England occupy the eighth spot, Jaffer mockingly asked the ICC to look into it as it is against the ‘Spirit of cricket.’
Nevertheless, with this painful result helping England reach a nadir that nobody in the higher levels of English cricket will be proud of, the perfect time had arrived for Wasim Jaffer to direct a dig right towards Michael Vaughan. With a picture of the ranking leaderboard that showed England all the way down in eighth while India were living it up at the top of the charts, Wasim Jaffer tagged Vaughan’s X account and sent some ribbing his way.
“England at No. 8… surely against the spirit of cricket. ICC should look into this,” wrote the former Indian batter, hitting two birds with one stone as he not only mocked England’s slip down the ranking table but also brought up some old wounds in relation to past debates regarding the English concern for the spirit of cricket.
England’s struggles in the 50-over format continue after a forgettable outing in the 2023 World Cup while trying to defend their trophy, and another all-hands-on-deck crisis which cost Jos Buttler his role as captain after a resounding failure in the Champions Trophy. Harry Brook stepped in to take over the captaincy reins, but start to life hasn’t treated him too kindly either.
It was Keshav Maharaj who did the damage in the first ODI as he continued his strong year in international cricket at the age of 35, while Aiden Markram scored a 23-ball half-century to walk the chase home with ease.
Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj was the star of the show for the Proteas. He picked up four wickets to bundle out the hosts for a paltry 131. After that, SA gunned down the target in 21 overs. Aiden Markram hit a brilliant 86 off 55 balls. His knock featured two sixes and 13 fours, yet Maharaj was awarded the Player of the Match for his heroics with the ball.
With the win, SA take a crucial 1-0 lead. The next game will be played on September 4 and the hosts would look to bounce back with a win and level the series.
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