Wasim Jaffer Trolls Kevin Pietersen as His IND vs ENG Bazball Prediction Backfires

Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen was trolled by India cricketer Wasim Jaffer after the former’s prediction of England’s score in the ongoing first Test against India went wrong.

England won the toss and chose to bat in Hyderabad today, Pietersen with a subtle reference to Bazball, posted on X, saying “England bat. 450/9 declared today?”

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At the same time, while Pietersen seemed hopeful of England going aggressive, England however, were restricted to 125/5 at one stage, before being bundled out for 246.

The first session of the opening Test match gave a glimpse of the much-anticipated Bazball as the England openers gave the team a flying start. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj started the proceedings for India and openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley hit at least 1 boundary in every over till the 6th over.

However, India’s most successful spinners in Tests, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin deflated the aggressive approach of openers. The spin duo ran through England’s top order as Ashwin drew the 1st blood for India by dismissing Duckett at 35. Jadeja grabbed the wicket of Ollie Pope and Ashwin got the wicket of Zak Crawley.

Pietersen social media posts describe the mood of the England camp. When England were bazballing their way through in the initial 10 overs, Pietersen made a bold prediction of England ending Day 1 at 450/9 declared.

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However, the Indian spin-trio of Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar Patel were too hot to handle the England batters. It didn’t take much time to reverse Pietersen’s prediction, seeing English batting crumbing against the Indian spinners.

Pietersen’s bold and sudden change of predictions brought Wasim’s wit into play. The former India opener responded with a tweet that was widely shared.

.@DineshKarthik will translate this one for you @KP24 😅 #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/3PSpy2rWlw

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) January 25, 2024

After the 55-run opening partnership, only the duo of Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root could stitch a 50-plus run partnership with their 61-run stand. However, Ben Stokes led the recovery for England, who were tottering at 155/7. Stokes joined Tom Hartley and Mark Wood to help the team cross 200 before Tea on the opening day of the Test match.

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