'Worst bowling unit': Ex-Pakistan star slams Michael Vaughan, Kevin Pietersen after they criticize Multan pitch

Former Pakistan cricketer Abdur Rauf has hit back at former England captains Kevin Pietersen and Michael Vaughan after they criticized the pitch in Multan.

The first Test between Pakistan and England got underway on Monday (October 7) in Multan. Pakistan captain Shan Masood won the toss and opted to bat first. Although the hosts were off to a poor start, they quickly put themselves in the driver's seat thanks to centuries from their captain and opener Abdullah Shafique.

Opener Saim Ayub could not score big and was out for only 4 runs. However, it was not a precursor to what followed. Shafique and Masood sent the England bowlers on a leather hunt by sharing a big stand for the second wicket. They added 253 runs for the second wicket before Gus Atkinson broke the stand by dismissing Abdullah.

Abdullah departed for 102 runs. Two runs after his departure, Masood returned to the pavilion as well. Masood scored 151 runs off 177 balls with the help of 13 fours and a couple of sixes. After losing two wickets in quick succession, Pakistan recovered quickly thanks to Babar Azam and Saud Shakeel.

At the time of writing this report, Pakistan were on 298/3 in the 74th over. Babar was batting on 20 while Shakeel was unbeaten on 15. As England's bowlers struggled to get wickets on the opening day of the Test, Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen could not stop themselves from taking a dig at the pitch.

The England greats took to X (formerly Twitter) to make it clear that they were not at all impressed by the pitch in Multan. While Pietersen called the pitch 'bowlers' graveyard', Michael Vaughan called it a 'road'.

"That wicket in Multan - bowlers GRAVEYARD!" wrote Pietersen.

On the other hand, Michael Vaughan wrote: "Looks like a road in Multan .. Great toss to have won .. also nice to see @shani_official batting in what looks like Padel shoes .."

That wicket in Multan - bowlers GRAVEYARD!

— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) October 7, 2024

Looks like a road in Multan .. Great toss to have won .. also nice to see @shani_official batting in what looks like Padel shoes .. #PAKvsENG

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) October 7, 2024

Abdur Rauf hits back at Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen:

Pietersen and Michael Vaughan's criticism of the Multan pitch did not go down well with Abdur Rauf and the former cricketer decided to hit back at the ex-England captains. Tagging both of them in his post, Abdur Rauf asked them to have a look at England's bowling unit.

He went on to call England's bowling unit 'the worst and most inexperienced bowling unit in two decades'. Abdur Rauf also highlighted that injuries to some key players such as Ben Stokes and Mark Wood have made things worse for England.

"@KP24 @MichaelVaughan instead of criticizing Multan pitch you should have a look at your bowling unit. This is the worst and most inexperience bowling unit of English team in last two decades. Anderson retired, Wood and Hull ruled out, Moin retired, Stokes yet not recovered.

"and you are in subcontinent where you will play first two Test matches at Multan under sheer hot weather. You don't have any specialist all rounder to support your fast bowlers and pitch the ball full to trap the batsmen nor any good spin bowlers to create problems," wrote Abdur Rauf.

@KP24@MichaelVaughan instead of criticizing Multan pitch you should have a look at your bowling unit. This is the worst and most inexperience bowling unit of English team in last two decades. Anderson retired, Wood and Hull ruled out, Moin retired, Stokes yet not recovered.

— Abdur Rouf Khan (@AbdurRoufKhan6) October 7, 2024

and you are in subcontinent where you will play first two Test matches at Multan under sheer hot weather. You don't have any specialist all rounder to support your fast bowlers and pitch the ball full to trap the batsmen nor any good spin bowlers to create problems.

— Abdur Rouf Khan (@AbdurRoufKhan6) October 7, 2024