Indian cricket has always been known as a batting powerhouse. Though India have been blessed with world class bowlers like Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan to name a few, however it is their batting prowess that makes it the team that it is. In the last 2 and a half decades, our batsmen have ruled world cricket, be it Sunil Manohar Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly or Virat Kohli now. However, one aspect that has bothered not just Indian cricket but has been a problem with every cricket playing nation is the lack of performance in away matches. Probably that is the reason why away matches have always been regarded so highly. Many batsmen with world class scores at their home turfs seem to lose it all when they play in foreign conditions. However, Indian batsman Mohammad Kaif who is often regarded as one of the best fielders to have ever graced the Indian dressing room has an uniquely pleasant stat about him. Yes, he has scored all his international centuries at foreign grounds. He has scored 2 One Day International centuries, a score of 111 not out against Zimbabwe in Sri Lanka and another score of 102 not out against New Zealand in Zimbabwe. His lone Test century also came against West Indies in West Indies.
Mohammad Kaif was born in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh in 1980 in a cricketing family. His father Mohammad Tarif and his brother Mohammad Saif are both first class cricketers. Mohammad Kaif first made a name for himself in the India Under 19 stage when he captained the team to a World Cup victory in the 2000 Under-19 World Cup held in Sri Lanka. Yuvraj Singh was also a part of that team. Kaif made his test debut in 2000 against South Africa. However, it is his ODI career that actually took off. Indian fans can never forget that night when Mohammad Kaif alongwith Yuvraj Singh helped India chase an impropable 326 to lift the Natwest Trophy. Mohammad Kaif was the man of the match with a score of 87 (off 75 balls) . However, it is his fielding performances that made Kaif a household name. Taking aerial catches and diving run outs were not a norm in those days, however it all changed after the arrival of Kaif and Yuvraj Singh. Indian cricket will always stay indebted to Mohammad Kaif for his contributions in developing a fielding culture. However, he could not live up to his expectations and had a short international run. He scored 624 runs from 13 Test matches and 2753 runs from 125 ODIs.