ENG vs PAK: Michael Vaughan destroys Babar Azam's Pakistan by slamming ECB's decision to call back Jos Buttler, Will Jacks and Phil Salt

Former England captain Michael Vaughan destroyed Babar Azam's Pakistani team by saying that England's Jos Buttler, Will Jacks, and Phil Salt should have remained in India. 

The English team is currently hosting Pakistan for a 4-match T20I series which began yesterday in Edgbaston. After the 1st T20I in Headingley got washed out due to excessive rain, the 2nd match took place yesterday. As expected, Jos Buttler's side defeated Babar Azam's Green Army by a margin of 23 runs with England going 1-0 up.

The series holds a lot of significance for both the teams who are going to be a part of the 20-team ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and West Indies. While most of the England players are coming after featuring in IPL 2024, the Pakistanis are coming at the back of a 2-1 T20 series win in Ireland. With 2 more matches to go, the series is expected to go down the wire.

What did Michael Vaughan say? 

While speaking in the famous Club Prairie Fire podcast yesterday, Michael Vaughan made a mockery of the Pakistan National team. Vaughan, who is known for his straightforward and blunt answers, started by slamming the English Cricket Board, claiming that they missed a trick.

The former England batter did not appreciate the ECB's decision to bring back Jos Buttler, Philip Salt, and Will Jacks from the IPL 2024. All 3 of the batters would have played in the play-offs if the 4-match home series against Pakistan did not take place. 

While Jos Buttler's Rajasthan Royals exited IPL 2024 after losing to Hyderabad in the 2nd Qualifier, Will Jacks' RCB team exited after losing to RR in the Eliminator. Phil Salt, who represented the Kolkata Knight Riders this season, would have been the only Englishman to play the finale, which is set to take place tonight between SRH and KKR. 

With that being said, Michael Vaughan feels Buttler, Salt, and Jacks should have stayed in India for the last stages of the richest T20 league in the world. Vaughan stated that the pressure of the playoffs, the massive crowds, and the expectations with it, would have been a better stage of preparation for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. 

Jos Buttler, Will Jacks, and Phil Salt would have got the taste of the knockouts and it would have been better than playing against Pakistan at home.  

"England missed a trick by not letting Jacks, Salt, and Buttler play in the IPL playoffs. Pressure, crowd, expectations, it would've been a better preparation than playing a T20 game against Pakistan." - Michael Vaughan said via Club Prairie Fire. 

Pakistan aiming to equalize the series 

After losing the 2nd T20I yesterday, Babar Azam and his Pakistani players will be aiming to bring the 4-match series back on level terms on 28th May. The 3rd match of the series will take place at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff while the series concluding match-up will take place on 30th May at the Oval in London.