Mohammad Kaif Profile by CricketArchive

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Player:

M Kaif

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DateLine: 19th February 2007

 

His bustling batting approach and his electrifying fielding has made him a regular in the ODI squad but Md Kaif is still trying to cement a place in the Test team. Basically a classical stroke player who has adjusted his game very well to the needs of slam bang cricket Kaif actually made his Test debut about two years before playing his first ODI. Coming up through the ranks he was the captain of the Indian team that won the Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka in 2000 Kaifs correct approach and tight technique marked him out initially as a Test player. But after getting a break in ODIs he never looked back and it was his superb 87 not out that set up Indias triumph in the NatWest series in England in 2002. Within months he hit his first century “ a magnificent unbeaten 111 against Zimbabwe in the ICC Champions Trophy match at Colombo when he walked out with the score a dismal 87 for five. At this stage he was being marked out for great things but a string of low scores followed and he had only a modest World Cup in South Africa. Africa. Against this whenever he has got a break in the Test team he has almost always come off culminating in an unbeaten 148 against the West Indies in 2006 “ his maiden Test hundred. With all that he is still basically considered to be an ODI player.