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Mohammad Kaif has made a bold statement about India’s 3-1 loss in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia as he termed the Test series embarrassment a “blessing in disguise”.
The former Indian cricketer believes this embarrassing knock has forced the spotlight on India’s struggling batting unit, which might otherwise have escaped scrutiny had the series been drawn.
Mohammad Kaif calls India’s 3-1 Test series loss to Australia a ‘blessing in disguise’
Pointing fingers at Virat Kohli’s struggles, Mohammad Kaif said if the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy had been drawn, it would have masked the glaring problems of the Indian batting line-up, which has failed in the Test series consecutive against New Zealand. at home and in Australia.
The numbers paint a worrying picture as only KL Rahul, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Yashasvi Jaiswal averaged more than 30 in the five-match Test series against Australia. Mohammad Kaif stressed that this painful loss serves as a wake-up call to address the team’s vulnerabilities.
The former India batsman has pointed out that a draw on the tour of Australia might have focused attention on Jasprit Bumrah’s absence or potential heroics, but now the focus is on mending the cracks that have Indian cricket team lose six of their last eight. The tests, and that is very good.
No one would have washed away the stains if India had drawn the Test series: Mohammad Kaif
Mohammad Kaid said in a video posted on X on January 8: “It’s good that they lost (to BGT) this time because Bumrah could have been in form and won the match. Bumrah would have been the hero and taken all the credit But what about Virat Kohli’s stains on Test matches?
Now there will be work to wash away the stains after the defeat because we now 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 discussed it. You have six of the last eight tests. It’s time to clean it up.”
Kaif has also hit hard at India’s batting line-up as he pointed out that even in their own backyard, the batsmen have failed to step up and deliver good performances.
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Mohammad Kaif slams India’s batting failures, says spinners masked problems
Kaif also noted that Rishabh Pant’s Man of the Series award against Sri Lanka in 2021/22 was a rare exception as Indian batsmen have been largely masked by R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Kaif boldly asserts that if the contributions of Ashwin and Jadeja are removed, India would have found it difficult to win even at home.
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 batsman 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 over 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.” The batting is hidden; the batsmen don’t bat there, and when you win, you don’t talk about it. Now is the time to prioritize the Test match.”
