Former England cricket skipper Michael Vaughan is well-known for his outspoken opinions and active social media presence. Meanwhile, his recent tweet featuring the Test stats of Virat Kohli and Joe Root didn't go well with Virat Kohli's fans in the first place.

It all started when the former England international tried to stir the pot by sharing a comparison of Virat Kohli's and Joe Root's Test cricket statistics. He posted a handwritten note comparing the two modern-day greats, in order to ignite a fresh debate among cricket fans.

The note showed a stark difference between the two batters' numbers - Virat Kohli had played 191 innings, wherein he scored 8,848 runs with an average of 49.15 and a strike rate of 55.56, laced with 29 centuries and 30 half-centuries. In contrast, Joe Root had played 263 innings, scoring 12,131 runs with a higher average of 50.33 and a strike rate of 56.70, along with 32 centuries and 64 half-centuries.



Well, on paper, these numbers might suggest Root's dominance in the purest format of the game, particularly considering his slightly better batting average and significantly more runs and fifties as well. However, Vaughan's tweet was just a ploy to grab attention as his statistical comparison was somewhat misleading.

His tweet didn't go unnoticed by cricket fanatics who quickly pointed out the flaws in the former skipper’s narrative. Fans were quick to remind him that Virat Kohli has played significantly fewer innings than Joe Root. While Root's numbers were indeed impressive, the fact that Kohli had played 72 fewer innings was conveniently overlooked by Vaughan.

On the other hand, the majority of the fans came to Kohli's defence by highlighting the run-machine's dominance in SENA countries. Some of them were of the opinion that 70% of Root's centuries came at home whereas others reminded Vaughan that Kohli has scored six Test centuries in Australia and Joe Root has none in the enemy's territory.

It is quite evident that Vaughan may have underestimated the knowledge and passion of cricket fans worldwide as the former England captain came with the only intention of stoking a debate, which backfired.