Mohammad Kaif made a bold statement on India’s 3-1 Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 loss to Australia, calling the Test series embarrassment a “blessing in disguise”.
The former Indian cricketer believes this embarrassing drubbing has forced focus on India’s beleaguered batting unit, which might otherwise have escaped scrutiny had the series been drawn.
Mohammad Kaif calls India’s 3-1 Test series loss to Australia a ‘blessing in disguise’
Pointing fingers at Virat Kohli’s struggles, Mohammad Kaif said that if the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy was drawn, it would have masked the glaring problems in India’s batting line-up, which failed in consecutive Test series against New Zeeland. at home and in Australia.
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The numbers paint a worrying picture as only KL Rahul, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Yashasvi Jaiswal averaged more than 30 in the five-match Test series against Australia. Mohammad Kaif stressed that this painful loss serves as a wake-up call to address the team’s vulnerabilities.
The former Indian batsman has pointed out that a draw in the tour of Australia could have diverted attention towards Jasprit Bumrah’s absence or possible heroics, but now the focus is on mending the rifts that have led to the Indian cricket team losing six of his last eight. You test, and that’s a really good thing.
No one would have washed away the stains if India had drawn Test series: Mohammad Kaif
Mohammad Kaid said in a video posted on X on January 8: “It’s good that they lost this time. [in BGT] because Bumrah could have gotten fit and won the match. Bumrah would have been the hero and taken all the credit. But what about the stains on Virat Kohli and Indian cricket in Test matches? Nobody would have washed it.
Now there will be work to wash away the stains after the defeat because we now realize that we lost three test matches against New Zealand and again lost 1-3 in Australia after winning the first test. If we had won and made it 2-2, we wouldn’t have discussed that. You have six of the last eight tests. It’s time to clean that up.”
Furthermore, Kaif has hit the Indian batting line-up hard as he pointed out that even in their own backyard, the batsmen have failed to step up and deliver good performances.
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Mohammad Kaif slams India’s batting lapses, says spinners masked problems
Kaif also pointed out that Rishabh Pant’s Player of the Series award against Sri Lanka in 2021/22 was a rare exception as the Indian batsmen have been largely masked by R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Kaif boldly states that if Ashwin and Jadeja’s contributions are removed, India would have found it difficult to win even at home.
He criticized the lack of big performances from players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and KL Rahul, and questioned the last time a batsman won the Player of the Series in a home Test series. The dominance of Indian trio Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar Patel often overshadows the batting failures, which Kaif believes have been conveniently ignored over the last few years.
Kaif signed off saying, “Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill or KL Rahul. Who won Man of the Series last time? The bowlers, especially the spinners, dominate and help the team win. The batting is hidden; batsmen fail there too. They don’t cover up, and when you win, they don’t talk about it. “Now is the time to prioritize the Test match.”