India got its Jonty Rhodes when Mohammad Kaif emerged in the Indian cricket. Kaif was a promising young man who was equally dependable batsmen. However his career didn’t went the way, everyone thought of. Inspite of an ispiring innings played at Natwest Finals, the UP cricketer, didn’t last long in the Indian jersey. Mohammad Kaif’s downfall
Big names like Yuvraj Singh, Ajay Ratra and Reetinder Sodhi played under the leadership of Kaif in U-19 world cup of 2000. India later went on to win the world cup and Kaif was said to be a prodigy of being the future captain of senior team. It only took him one more year and he made his test debut for India at the age of 20. Kaif later got to wear the coloured jersey after 2 years, making his ODI debut at the age of 22. He established himself as a middle order batsmen with exceptional fielding skills.
Here are the factors which embarked Mohammad Kaif’s downfall in International cricket.
Poor Technique
Many unorthodox players who didn’t believe on technique have mastered the game allready. The best example being, MS Dhoni. India’s former captain made a mark in domestic circuit but was neglected by selectors due to poor cricketing techniques before Kiran More, the chief selector of that time understood his potential and selected him in 2004 to debut against Bangladesh.
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Kaif was more of an orthodox cricketer who performed exceptionally well in the subcontinent wickets. However, his poor run of form at away tours often exposed his poor technique. He was one dimensional player with only scoring area being on side. He had no cut, pull and often felt to short balls. At foreign tours, bowlers often tested him with short balls where he faltered and got out cheaply.
Batsmen like Navjot Singh Sidhu, Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina were also poor in technique but their International career lasted long. However Kaif on the other side, worked really hard for his batting but his poor technique led him down.
Poor Strike Rate
Kaif made his place in the middle order but failed to strike at a good rate when required run rate soared 6 or above. The UP born batsmen was believed to be a long time star for the team after a blistering innings at 2002 Natwest finals alongside Yuvraj Singh. However, his graph went down from then as we was regarded more of a test batsmen who can bat in subcontinental conditions only.
During 2005–06, the Indian team kept changing its batting order a bit too frequently to allow anyone to settle in. With Irfan Pathan being used as a floater, Kaif batted all over the batting lineup from number 3 to 7. The in-ability to finish the game and a poor strike rate, finished his career. He played 110 innings in 125 ODI’s scoring 2753 with an average of 32.01 and a strike rate of 72.03. He was eventually dropped from 2007 world cup squad and gave room to Robin Uthappa in the team. Kaif was groomed as next captain but at the maturity period, he was at his worst and played his last international match at the age of 26.
Emergence of Youngsters
During his time India’s middle order consisted of stars like Sehwag, Tendulkar, Gambhir and Ganguly who were renowed for scoring big hundreds. On the other hand, Kaif failed to convert starts into big scorer with only two ODI centuries to his name.
He made his place in lower or middle order which had new stars in Dhoni, Raina, Irfan Pathan. Who were way to impressive in the terms of strike rate. Dhoni eventually earned the role of the finisher, leaving no space for Kaif in the team, who struggled with the strike rate. The coming competition from youngsters and start of T20 era opposed him and resulted in Mohammad Kaif’s downfall.
Chances in IPL and domestic circuit
Mohammad Kaif could have proved his mettle in domestic circuit yet again for eyeing a spot in the team. He did not analyze his mistakes and didn’t score big hundreds, playing for Uttar Pradesh in BCCI’s domestic tournaments. He might have made a cut in earlier 2012-2013, when Indian middle order was struggling and needed a possible replacement.
Kaif had a golden chance in the First IPL, where he was the costliest player in Rajasthan Royals. But he was the only failure in the champion team. After that his career just went downhill and the game changed considerably. He is considered in the list of flop cricketers to appear in IPL.
Conclusion
Kaif will always be regarded as the greatest fielder to play for India. He currently plays for Chattisgarh in Indian domestic structure. Kaif is also seen as a sports expert in various sports channel and news networks.
Flop cricketers
