Wasim Jaffer gives a thrashing reply to Australian media after they tried to take a dig at Virat Kohli’s stats

Former India opener Wasim Jaffer has given an epic reply to Australian media Channel 7 for their dig at Virat Kohli’s batting form. The Australian media outlet recently took a shot at Kohli’s Test performances, highlighting his decline in numbers since 2019.

Channel 7’s Post on Kohli’s Test Average

Kohli did not have the best of years in Test cricket in 2021, finishing with 536 runs from 11 matches, including four half-centuries, at a lowly average of 28.21. This was a sharp contrast to his overall Test average, which is well over 50.

7Cricket, an arm of Channel 7, posted a tweet pointing out that since the start of 2019, Kohli has an average of 37.17 in Tests—shockingly lower than Australian pacer Mitchell Starc’s batting average of 38.63. They captioned it as the ‘stat of the day’ alongside a picture collage of Starc and Kohli.

Jaffer’s Hilarious Counter-Stat

Not too long after, Wasim Jaffer responded with a witty stat of his own, drawing a hilarious comparison between Navdeep Saini and Steve Smith. Jaffer tweeted:

“ODI Career batting average: Navdeep Saini: 53.50, Steve Smith: 43.34.”

True enough, Saini possesses a higher batting average than the Australian star batter. In five ODI innings, Saini has scored 107 runs with a highest score of 45 against New Zealand. Having remained not out three times, his average escalated to over 50, with a strike rate of nearly 80.

Meanwhile, Steve Smith, a veteran of 128 ODIs, has scored over 4300 runs at an average of 43.34—exactly what Jaffer pointed out. The stat, though factually correct, was clearly meant to highlight the absurdity of Channel 7’s comparison between Kohli and Starc.

Social Media Reaction

Jaffer’s reply quickly gained traction, earning praise from cricket fans who enjoyed the former cricketer’s signature humor. Many pointed out that cherry-picking stats without context leads to misleading narratives, and Jaffer’s response was a perfect way to call it out.