Mohammad Kaif will always be remembered as being one of the finest fielders that India has ever produced. During the five-year period in which he was an India regular (2002-2006), it was his electric fielding inside the 30-yard circle that earned him a lot of praise.
Kaif was also a quality batsman, representing India in 125 ODIs and scoring 2753 runs at an average of 32.01, including two hundreds and 17 half-centuries.
However, he failed to leave his mark in the longest format. Kaif played only 13 Tests for the country in which he managed 624 runs at 32.84 with one ton and three fifties.
In an exclusive chat with TimesofIndia.com, Kaif on Wednesday (June 17) reflected on his Test career and said: "The Indian team at that time was full of big players like Sachin, Dravid, Sehwag. So I and Yuvraj could not play many Tests, even though Yuvraj got more chances than me. I got a chance to play against England in Nagpur (in 2006) when someone got injured and I scored 91. Then that guy got fit and I was dropped again. So that team was so strong that I didn't get many chances to play. They were the greats of the game, legends, players like Sachin, Dravid, inspired us."
Kaif was the first Indian captain to win the Under-19 World Cup title, beating Sri Lanka in the final in Colombo on January 28, 2000.
Recalling that historic triumph, the 39-year-old said, "The way we played the whole tournament was special, we did not lose a single game, we dominated the league phase. We met Australia in the semi-final, they had a good side, but we beat them by 170 runs. We had a slow start and had to promote Yuvraj Singh, who went and smashed a 25-ball 58, so we reached 284. Then our seniors, especially Anup Dave of Rajasthan, bowled well. In the final also, we were against the home team Sri Lanka. These two matches I remember quite well. There was another good match against New Zealand, but this was the semi-final and the final. Overall, we dominated the whole tournament."
Two months later, Kaif made his Test debut against South Africa in Bangalore and scored 12 and 23 across the two innings before being trapped LBW by Jacques Kallis on each occasion.
Remembering his Test debut, Kaif said: "I was surprised at the Test call-up. Since it was India's first Under-19 World Cup title victory, there was a lot of media hype. There was a Challenger tournament in which most of the Under-19 players got a chance to play. I had two scores in the 90s in back-to-back matches that I played, then I was named in the Indian Test side. But I think I was hurried into Test cricket, I was just 20 and to face someone like Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Nantie Hayward, they had some serious pace”
“It was a learning experience for me, just like a new swimmer is thrown into the deep and asked to help himself. So to be honest, I think I was not ready to face that kind of pace, which I had never faced (before). They were bowling a lot of bouncers and here in domestic cricket the ball hardly bounces and we can drive easily. That was a big difference.
“Then I got dropped and then I worked very hard and made my ODI debut against England at my home ground Kanpur. Those two years gave me time to learn how to play at the international level. I came back hard, I came back prepared after playing some domestic matches. I think sometimes selectors tend to rush with young players based on the name and the hype and seeing the Indian team losing, a new player is thrown into international cricket and sometimes it does more harm than good," he elaborated.
