Mohammad Kaif made a bold statement about India’s 3-1 loss 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 this embarrassing thrashing brought attention to India’s struggling batting unit, which might otherwise have escaped notice if the series had 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 that if the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. drawn, it masked glaring problems in India’s batting line-up, which faltered in 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 above 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 pointed out that the draw in the Australian tour may have shifted the focus to Jasprit Bumrah’s absence or potential heroics, but now the focus is on repairing the cracks that have seen the Indian cricket team lose six of the last eight Tests, and that’s really good thing.
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 this time [in BGT] because maybe Bumrah could have trained and won the match. Bumrah would be the hero and take all the credit. But what about the stains on Virat Kohli and Indian cricket in Test matches? Nobody would wash it.
Now there will be work to wash away the stains after the defeat as we now realize that we have 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 would not have discussed it. You have six of the last eight tests. It’s time to clean it up.”
Furthermore, Kaif hit out at India’s struggling batting line-up, as he pointed out that even in their own backyard, the batsmen have failed to step up and deliver good performances.
Mohammad Kaif slams India’s batting failures, says spinners masked problems
Kaif also pointed out that the Rishabh Pant man of the series award against Sri Lanka in the 2021/22 season. was a rare exception, as the Indian batsmen were mostly masked by R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Kaif boldly asserts that it would be difficult for India to win even at home if the contributions of Ashwin and Jadeja were removed.
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 Man of the Series award in a home Test series. The dominance of India’s spin trio of Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar Patel often overshadows the batsmen’s failings, which Kaif believes have been conveniently ignored over the past few years.
Kaif signed off saying, “Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill or KL Rahul. Who last won Man of the Series? The bowlers, especially the spinners, dominate and help the team win. The blow is hidden; batsmen also fall there. They don’t hide, and when you win, you don’t talk about it. Now is the time to prioritize the Test match.”
