Former Team India fielding sensation and the assistant coach of the Gujarat Lions in the IPL for the last two seasons, Mohammad Kaif might be out of the cricketing field for a long time but he is certainly an active member on the social media platforms. Recently he posted a picture with his infant daughter Iva during a vacation in Goa yesterday and captioned it ‘My greatest gift, my bundle of joy, my daughter Eva! #GoGoa.’
The former captain of the Uttar Pradesh Ranji team who also led them to a Ranji Trophy title and has been a veteran in the domestic circuit. He came to the forefront during the early 2000’s with his consistent performances in the domestic circuit and finally announced his arrival to the international scene with a brilliant match winning knock in the 2002 Natwest Trophy final which helped India clinch the series from a hopeless situation.
When he arrived at the crease India was tottering at 146/5 with all the big guns back in the hut. In the presence of another youngster Yuvraj Singh, Kaif started gaining in confidence and played some gorgeous shots to keep India in the game and brought them within touching distance of the mammoth total. He eventually remained unbeaten on 87 which proved to be enough for India.
In the following years, Kaif became a permanent member of the limited overs set up especially with his acrobatic fielding efforts. Besides playing 125 ODI’s Kaif has also made an appearance in 13 Tests, playing his last international match way back in 2006.
Kaif was the captain of the U-19 side which won the World Cup in 2000 which had also had Yuvraj Singh in the squad. It was that tournament which helped the duo shape a career for them and riding on the performances, Yuvraj was almost immediately drafted into the national squad for the ICC Knockout Trophy in Kenya in the same year.
The southpaw made his presence felt in the very 1st match against the Aussies and stroked his way to 88. Kaif came into the team a year later and the duo’s fielding in the cover region helped India scale great heights during that period.