'Surely against spirit of cricket' - Ex-India star brutally roasts England for poor ODI ranking

Former India cricketer and a social media nuffy Wasim Jaffer launched a humorously inflammatory remark on England after they dropped to eighth on the points table on the Men's ODI team rankings as of September 2. Jaffer's jibe came after England suffered a thumping seven-wicket defeat in the series-opening clash of the white-ball series against South Africa.

The Mumbai-born took to his official social media handle to make a mockery of England's current woeful situation in ODIs by sharing an image with of the ODI rankings on Wednesday, September 3. Jaffer also tagged ex-English captain and good friend Michael Vaughan in his caption while making a reference to the 'spirit of the game' intending a lot of wit in his post on X (formerly known as Twitter). 

Check Jaffer's tweet here

Wasim Jaffer@WasimJaffer14

England at No. 8… surely against the spirit of cricket. ICC should look into this. @MichaelVaughan

11:12 AM · Sep 03, 2025

10.6K690

As per the current ICC rankings, England sit eighth after 35 matches played with 3051 points and a rating of 87 to their name. The hosts will aim at making a comeback in the series after going down in Headingley agonizingly. The Three Lions will take on the South Africans next on September 4 and September 7 at Lord's and The Rose Bowl for the second and third ODI, respectively.

The Proteas completely outplayed England in the first ODI of the three-match series. Keshav Maharaj (4/22 in 5.3 overs) and Wiaan Mulder (3/33 in 7 overs) shared seven wickets between them. Jamie Smith (54 off 48) was the only batter to get past the 15-run mark. A whopping seven batters from the English line-up registered single-digit scores.

Coming to the run-chase, Aiden Markram led the show with 86 off 55 to his name. His enterprising innings comprised 13 fours and two sixes. Markram's opening partner Ryan Rickelton (31* off 59) remained unbeaten. All three wickets were secured by Adil Rashid, who finished with figures of 3/26 in 3.5 overs. Sonny Baker had an international debut to forget. The right-arm quick leaked 76 runs in seven overs.