Kaif, bewildered by his omission from the Indian team, said he was not told by the authorities concerned which aspects of the game he needs to address.
MUMBAI: Mohammad Kaif has a problem. That he doesn’t know what sphere of his cricket needs bolstering for a comeback. It certainly can’t be his fielding.
The gritty right-hander from Uttar Pradesh is reconciled to the fact that he is not part of the World Cup squad and has got down to do what a dropped batsman aims for — scoring runs in domestic cricket. In four Ranji one-dayers this season, Kaif has hit two hundreds and notched up a Bradmanesque average of 92.
“I don’t know why I was dropped. Nobody has told me what areas I need to improve upon — whether it is my batting or fielding. So all I am trying to do is stick to the basic things that I do well and make runs in domestic cricket,” he said after giving tips to youngsters participating in Cricketstar — a talent hunt show.
Having been an integral part of Sourav Ganguly’s team that reached the final in the last World Cup, Kaif made no bones about the fact that he is sad to miss out this time. “It is disappointing. Most of the boys in that team are there in this squad as well, except me,” Kaif said.
He doesn’t want to stretch the topic, though. “The selection part is over with. Let us now hope that we will win the championship,” he said. “I consider myself lucky that I was a part of the last World Cup squad and we could reach the finals. I look forward to prove myself and make a comeback after the World Cup by performing well in domestic cricket,” he elaborated.
Kaif doesn’t want to predict the 2007 World Cup winner so soon. “Let us wait for the initial matches to get over. Then we will get an idea of which teams are in form, and which aren’t,” he said, before adding: “I am praying for India.”
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