Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif went on a rant as India could not manage to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT). Ever since the start of the five-match test series, there has been a lot of criticism of the head coach Gautam Gambhir, senior players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
Kaif has a feeling that everything will be forgotten and the criticism will stop when India will beat Pakistan in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025 match on February 23. He even stated that changes need to be done at domestic level, especially to the pitches which would help the batters prepare for the seam conditions overseas.
“On 23rd February India will earn a lot of praise by beating Pakistan (in Champions Trophy) and everyone will say we are a champion team in white-ball cricket. But if India want to team the World Test Championship then we will have to make a Test match team, will have to learn to play on seaming tracks. The truth is that we are just white-ball bullies. We are lagging too far behind. If we have to win WTC, then players will have to play domestic cricket on turning tracks, will have to practice on seaming tracks, otherwise we will not be able to win,” Kaif said in a video he posted on X.
Virat Kohli did not simply put the blame of players skipping Ranji Trophy, but he put the blame on the schedule on the events. He stated that the players decide to rest between series and big tournaments, then go on to represent their respective states in Ranji Trophy.
“India lost 1-3, and I think this is a wake-up call, because now we have to pay our attention towards Test cricket. It’s not just Gautam Gambhir who is at fault. All players get the chance to play Ranji Trophy, but it gets tiresome for the players and they prefer rest over playing Ranji Trophy. They don’t play Ranji Trophy, they don’t play practice matches then how will they become better players? It’s tough to play on turning tracks in India and tougher to play on seaming tracks in Australia and South Africa. So if you don’t practice well, WTC will keep eluding you. What has happened, it has happened for the good and now Team India needs to work hard in Test cricket,” he added.
Before the home season began last year, a lot of Indian players came up to play Duleep Trophy. However, senior players missed the face-offs, which caused them facing a lot of criticism. India is yet to win a World Test Championship (WTC) final. A series whitewash to New Zealand, and a failure to retain BGT title caused them getting knocked out of the WTC race.
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