Mohammad Kaif has delivered a bold statement on India’s 3-1 loss in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 to Australia, as he called the Test series embarrassment a “blessing in disguise.”
The former Indian cricketer believes that this embarrassing drubbing has forced the spotlight on India’s struggling batting unit, which might have otherwise escaped scrutiny if the series was drawn.
Mohammad Kaif calls India’s 3-1 Test series loss to Australia a ‘Blessing in Disguise’
Pointing a finger at Virat Kohli’s struggles, Mohammad Kaif said that if the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 was drawn, it would have masked the glaring issues in the Indian batting lineup, which faltered in back-to-back Test series against New Zealand at home and Australia.
The numbers paint a worrying picture, as only KL Rahul, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Yashasvi Jaiswal averaged over 30 in the five-match Test series against Australia. Mohammad Kaif has emphasized that this painful loss serves as a wake-up call to address the team’s vulnerabilities.
The former Indian batter has pointed out that a draw on the Australia tour might have shifted the focus to Jasprit Bumrah’s absence or potential heroics, but now the focus is on fixing the cracks that have led to the Indian cricket team losing six of their last eight Tests, and that’s a really good thing.
Nobody would’ve washed the stains if India would have drew the Test series: Mohammad Kaif
Mohammad Kaid said in a video posted on X on January 8: “It’s good that they lost this time around [in BGT] because Bumrah might have gotten fit and won the match. Bumrah would’ve been the hero and taken all the credit. But what about the stains on Virat Kohli and Indian cricket in Test matches? Nobody would’ve washed it.
Now there will be work to wash the stains after the loss because now we 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 been discussing that. You have six out of the last eight Tests. It’s time to clean that up.”
Furthermore, Kaif has hit hard at India’s struggling batting lineup, as he pointed out that even in their own backyard, the batters have failed to step up and deliver good performances.
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Mohammad Kaif slams India’s batting failures, says spinners masked the issues
Kaif also pointed out that Rishabh Pant’s Player of the Series award against Sri Lanka in 2021/22 was a rare exception, as Indian batters have largely been masked by R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Kaif boldly claims that if the contributions of Ashwin and Jadeja are removed, India would have found it difficult to win even on home turf.
He criticized the lack of big performances from the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and KL Rahul, questioning the last time a batter won the Player of the Series in a home Test series. The dominance of India’s spin trio Ashwin, Jadeja, and Axar Patel often overshadows the batting failures, which Kaif believes have been conveniently ignored for the past few years.
Kaif signed off by saying, “Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, or KL Rahul. Who won the Man of the Series last time? Bowlers, especially spinners, dominate and help the team win. Batting gets hidden; batters flop there as well. They don’t cover up, and when you win, you don’t talk about that. It’s now time that the Test match should be prioritized.”