The Indian skipper, Virat Kohli found himself at the receiving end of criticism after he made some surprising picks for the opening T20I against Australia. While he picked some surprising names, on the other hand, he missed out on many key players including Yuzvendra Chahal and Shreyas Iyer. His selection left everyone surprised left everyone surprised, including Mohammad Kaif.
Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif recently slammed the Indian skipper and head coach for not backing the players. He also recalled his playing time and cited how Sourav Ganguly used to back his players to the hilt.
Mohammed Kaif, who was the assistant coach of Shreyas Iyer-led Delhi Capitals, expressed his disappointment over Shreyas Iyer not being included in the playing XI for the first T20I match against Australia despite proving his credentials as a No. 4 both in IPL and for team India as well. Talking about the same, Kaif said:
“Shreyas Iyer had become your main player at one point. That he is your No.4 batsman, who finishes the game. Whether you talk about the IPL or go back to the New Zealand series, there also he finished games at No.4. He scored 50 not out or 33 not out, he was playing well at the No.4 position,”
He added:
“He had two or three bad innings in the ODI, so they didn’t play him in the first T20I. This is the culture of the Indian team and we have all understood that. I am not surprised that he is dropped,”
Kaif further lashed out at head coach Ravi Shastri as well as he claimed that other cricketers are now aware of the fact that they won’t get much time to prove themselves. He said:
“This is the sort of thinking of Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri and the players are also understanding that. The players also know that they will get just two innings, this is the sort of team it is,”
He added:
“When we used to play with Dada, it was not like this. In Dada’s time you knew that if he has picked one player, he will play him till the time he feels he will deliver. He backed the players a lot.”
“That is why Virat Kohli will have to think in the coming time to leave his legacy as a captain. Why we talk about Dada or why does Virender Sehwag talk about Dada? Because Dada has made that impact. Sourav Ganguly has backed us, he made a team.”
“So, when Virat Kohli leaves after 8-10 years, there should be players who take Virat Kohli’s name that because of him they started playing international cricket and became such big players,”
