Mohammad Kaif made a bold statement regarding India's 3-1 defeat in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia as he called the Test series embarrassment a “blessing in disguise”.
The former Indian cricketer believes that this embarrassing embarrassment forced a spotlight on India's struggling batting unit, which would otherwise have been out of control had the series been drawn.
Mohammad Kaif calls India's 3-1 Test series defeat 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 in the Indian batting line-up, which faltered in the back-to-back Test series 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 over 30 in the five-match Test series against Australia. Mohammad Kaif pointed out that this painful loss serves as a wake-up call to address the team's vulnerabilities.
The former India batsman pointed out that a draw in the Australia tour might have focused attention on Jasprit Bumrah's absence or potential heroics, but now the focus is on mending the cracks that have seen the Indian cricket team lose six of their last eight. Tests, and that's a very good thing.
Nobody 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 they lost this time (in the BGT) because Bumrah could have got fit and won the match. Bumrah would have been the hero and taken all the credit. But what about the stains on Virat Kohli and Indian cricket from Test matches? No one would wash it.
Now there will be work to wash away the stains after the defeat because we now realize that we lost three Test matches to New Zealand and lost again 1-3 in Australia after winning the first Test. If we had won and drawn 2-2, we wouldn't have discussed it. You have six of the last eight tests. It's time to clean this up.”
Moreover, Kaif hit out at India's struggling batting line-up, 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 criticizes India's batting failures, says spinners have masked problems
Kaif also pointed out that Rishabh Pant's man of the series award against Sri Lanka in 2021/22 was a rare exception as Indian batsmen were largely overshadowed by R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Kaif boldly claims that if the contributions of Ashwin and Jadeja were removed, it would have been difficult for India to win even on home soil.
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 Player of the Series in a home Test series. The dominance of India's spin trio of Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar Patel often overshadows the batting lapses, which Kaif believes have been conveniently ignored over the past few years.
Kaif signed, “Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill or KL Rahul. Who won Man of the Series last time? The bowlers, especially the spinners, dominate and help the team win. The beat is hidden; batteries flop there too. They don't cover, and when you win, you don't talk about it. Now it's time for the Test match to take priority.”