How can someone as gifted as Mohammed Kaif make it back to the Indian Team?

Question

Many senior and aging players like Sachin, Ganguly were given a long lease at extending their career by a very lenient and biased bunch of selectors.
Playing Bangladesh who are not a very good test side is the best way to boost your test average.
Many of them like Dravid , Sachin and Ganguly will be too old to lift a cricket bat at the next world cup and Sachin &Ganguly;s dismissal after scoring thier tons shows that they are only intrested in personal records rather than playing for the team.
What is Mohammed Kaif's fault that he is not even being mentioned by the press and seems to be forgotten by all and sundry?
He is defintely better than Dinesh Mongia and Dinesh Karthic the new blue eyed boy who is now given chances in test matches ahead of likes of Yuvraj and Laxman.
What we need is fighters like Kaif not extremely gifted batsmen who never play under pressure and are given the prime steak roles of opening in ODI's on batting pitches against weak attacks.
Shewag selection?

Answer 1

well talent is not a criterion for selection into the team; however, the number of runs one logs is. And it is the second proposition that Kaif is failing to satisfy.

Although his talent is unquestionable, his performances do no justice whatsoever to his talent resource.

Kaif needs to seriously dig deep and set his priorities right. By the way he is going now, it does appear that playing for India does not figure very highly on his priority list.

Answer 2

buddy, i completely agree with u.
Sachin and Sourav played for their personal records.

Whereas Md. Kaif plays for the team, he has that team spirit. remember his catch against Pakistan in the last over. He ran all the way from the other side though dinesh mongia was closer to the ball. and yes, Kaif was the 1 who caught the ball. and hes the first one to celebrate if a wicket falls.

Lets c his average this way, he saves atleast 25 runs in a match through his feilding (ignoring the catches that he takes and also the run outs) + how much he scores when he bats.
his average is way over 70.

Let Sachin and Sourav drink some bhang,
i mean pepsi, lol

Answer 3

Sachin, Dravid and Ganguly performed very well in the on-going match against Bangladesh. They perform well but were just out of form few weeks back.
Md Kaif and similar status guys are having a very very very (extremely) bad patch. They should play domestic cricket to come back.
Similar: Virender Sehwag, R Utthapa, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan

Answer 4

Agreed Kaif is 'gifted' but where was he when India was undergoing a black patch? He was scoring 0s and5s. He was given lot of chances, but never used then to get back to form. As far as Karthik is concerned, he is has better temperament then Kaif if not a very good technique.Most of his scores have come in difficult situations Mongia will have to go after this series. Kaif at present is back at home after a poor season both at international and domestic (as a captain of UP, he made a high of 83 in 4 tests and UP were relagated fron elite group).

Answer 5

Good observation buddy. Only the other day he was interviewed by a Television channel. Yes he is more a utility cricketer with good batting temperament and agile fielding. My sincered advice to him would be: he should develop his bowling also so that he can be a complete cricketer and he cannot be overlooked in the matter of selection. You are also right in your observation about Sachin & Sourav getting out immediately after reaching their hundred. But sorry I cannot agree with your observation about Dinesh Kaarthik because he is a good batsman, an agile wicket keeper and an equally good fielder in any position which he proved in the ODIs against Bangladesh.

Answer 6

We can't rule it out completely that he'll not be back, but I think it's going to be tough. There are already new players coming into the team taking up vital places. Kaif is a brilliant player when it comes to fielding, I've not seen anyone else in the current team who is so quick and agile as him.

However, his batting is nothing to shout about, and I think players are selected more on their run making basis than fielding. Through regional matches, if he can create good consistent innings, I'm sure the selectors will notice him again.

Answer 7

Compared to Dinesh Mongia and Karthick, he got better opportunities but he failed to capitalise.Dinesh Karthick did not get selection by fluke.Mongia too sharpened his talent in English county.
I agree that he has good temperament.He will get his chances when Sachin and Ganguly are exposed to tough opposition and leave the scene.or when either of the two Dinesh face the axe.Yet I would like Kaif getting back in team soon.

Answer 8

Only way Kaif can make come back is by putting some solid performances in First class and Domestic cricket.Do recall Kaif was dropped at first place because of poor form with the bat and string of poor scores.He definitely got ample opportunities but didn't use them to cement is place in the side.

Let him concentrate on his batting and put some big scores, he will be back in reckoning.

Answer 9

kaif is a player with potential talent.he is a great player and he will take time to be a part of the indian team.i would say the indian selectors are absolutely fools.they have given many chances to sehwag to prove his batting abilities . if the half of the chances would have given to kaif he would also be able to prove is abilities.The average of kaif is better than the worst opener of the indian team sehwag.He should be axed

Answer 10

i agree that mohammed kaif should be given a chance to prove himself,he don't need it he already prooved himself.Yes,he is a very good fighter.But you mentioned that sachin and sourav are playing for their personal records,i don't think so because after completing their tons both of them got out in the process of lifting the run rate and they will play for the team always.Let us hope that kaif will return to the indian team soon.