Cricinfo - Players and Officials

Full name Mohammad Kaif
Born December 1, 1980, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh
Current age 27 years 236 days
Major teams India, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, India Red, Leicestershire, Rajasthan Cricket Association President's XI, Rajasthan Royals, Uttar Pradesh
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak
Relations Father - M Tarif, Brother - M Saif

Batting and fielding averages

Mat

Inns

Runs

Ave

100

Tests

624

148*

32.84

1548

40.31

ODIs

125

110

2753

111*

32.01

3822

72.03

228

First-class

158

5757

160

41.12

List A

223

205

6371

151*

37.69

101

Twenty20

350

59*

19.44

338

103.55

Bowling averages

Mat

Inns

Balls

Runs

Wkts

BBI

BBM

Ave

Econ

Tests

1.33

ODIs

125

First-class

1358

639

3/4

31.95

2.82

67.9

List A

223

1035

907

4/23

30.23

5.25

34.5

Twenty20

Career statistics

Test debut

India v South Africa at Bangalore, Mar 2-6, 2000 scorecard

Last Test

West Indies v India at Kingston, Jun 30-Jul 2, 2006 scorecard

Test statistics

ODI debut

India v England at Kanpur, Jan 28, 2002 scorecard

Last ODI

South Africa v India at Port Elizabeth, Nov 29, 2006 scorecard

ODI statistics

First-class debut

1997/98

Last First-class

Central Zone v England Lions at Vadodara, Feb 3-6, 2008 scorecard

List A debut

1998/99

Last List A

Central Zone v South Zone at Hyderabad (Decc), Mar 20, 2008 scorecard

Twenty20 debut

Yorkshire v Derbyshire at Leeds, Jun 14, 2003 scorecard

Last Twenty20

Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals at Mumbai, Jun 1, 2008 scorecard

Mohammad Kaif, who comes from the cricketing backwater of Uttar Pradesh, first came to prominence with his performances for India's Under-19s: he captained the side, which also included Yuvraj Singh, Ajay Ratra and Reetinder Sodhi, that won the Youth World Cup of 2000. Kaif's assured strokeplay, and composure that belied his age, earned him a Test cap against South Africa when he was only 20. Though the selectors subsequently discarded him, stints at the Australian Cricket Academy and its Indian equivalent in Bangalore helped to iron out some of the kinks in his technique. Recalled to the one-day side during the 2001-2002 home season, he made an impact with some steady and purposeful batting. But it was during the 2002 NatWest series in England that he truly hit the high notes, culminating in a magnificent unbeaten 87 as India successfully chased 326 for victory in the final. A superb century followed - against Zimbabwe in the ICC Champions Trophy - but he struggled at times to kick on after that, having a fairly quiet World Cup. His first experience of the county circuit was also a mixed bag, some typically dynamic efforts interspersed by a string of low scores. Kaif's exceptional fielding at cover often overshadowed his poor scores with the bat - including a horror run in 2005-06 - but even that hasn't been enough to win him a permanent place in the Test side. He was dropped for more than a year before being recalled to the Test squad for the second Test against South Africa in Ahmedabad - backed by an impressive domestic season - as a replacement for the injured Sachin Tendulkar. He was also the most expensive player in the Rajasthan Royals IPL team.
Dileep Premachandran March 2008

Jun 26, 2008

Mohammad Kaif bats at a training camp at the Chinnaswamy Stadium © AFP

Apr 10, 2008

Mohammad Kaif has a chat with Sourav Ganguly © AFP

Apr 2, 2008

Sreesanth, Mohammad Kaif, and Wasim Jaffer chat after India's practice session © AFP

View the full list of 160 related images