Mohammed Kaif - The Unsung hero

Full Name : Mohammed Kaif
Age : 26 years






Batting Style : Right-hand Bat
Test Debut : India VS South Africa at Banglore, March 2000
ODI Debut : India VS England at Kanpur, Jan 2002

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	13	22	3	624	148*	32.84	1548	40.31	1	3	64	2	14	0
ODIs	125	110	24	2753	111*	32.01	3822	72.03	2	17	228	9	55	0
First-class	82	134	15	4646	148*	39.04			7	29			56	0
List A	207	191	34	5974	151*	38.05			6	44			94	0
Twenty20	5	5	1	75	53	18.75	71	105.63	0	1			2	0

Mohammad Kaif, who comes from the cricketing backwater of Uttar Pradesh, first came to prominence with his performances for India's Under-19s: he captained the side, which also included Yuvraj Singh, Ajay Ratra and Reetinder Sodhi, that won the Youth World Cup of 2000.
His most famous feat was helping India chase down 326 with a marvellous 87* (off only 75 balls) in the 2002 NatWest Series Final. The effort earned him his first Man of the Match award. In the series against Bangladesh in late 2004, he was named Man of the Series for his consistency in all the three ODIs. Kaif earned himself a Test cap against South Africa when he was 20.But was dropped after few matches ,but he made a good comeback to the Test side against Australia late in 2004 scoring two gritty half-centuries.
Kaif's exceptional fielding at cover often overshadowed his poor scores with the bat. His exceptional fielding has made India win many matches . As we all know " Catches Win Matches" and this is a player who never drop them. His determination inspired many players in the field even when the team was loosing .
The team management tend to use him in the middle order, though his successes have almost always come playing high up - at number 3 rather than at number 7. He tends to score big when given the time to settle. His usual position in domestic games and in county cricket has been number 3.But with the arrival of Greg Chappell and Rahul Dravid being appointed captain, the number 3 slot is given to either Irfan Pathan or Mahendra Singh Dhoni to accelerate the scoring rate.
In March 2006, he was recalled to the Test team in place of the injured Yuvraj Singh for the First Test against England in Nagpur. Despite top-scoring with a dogged 91 to save the Test match, he was omitted for the following match when Yuvraj had recovered his fitness. But he found a place in the four Tests in the West Indies, after Sachin Tendulkar was injured. He hit 148 not out in the second Test, his maiden Test century. But even that hasn't been enough to win him a permanent place in the Test side.
Even after his exceptional performances when Indian team needed him ,he was taken out of the squad in favour of Dinesh Karthik . After this early exit from world cup and many bad performances by players I think the selection commite will take into consideration his performances and once again he will make an outstanding comeback like Sourav Ganguly has done.



















So I awe to this exceptional batsmen , fielder , and more of all an outstanding player who has always remained unheard , unnoticed and unsung.................

GO KAIFU GO INDIA NEEDS U