OTD| Star of Natwest series 2002, Mohammad Kaif was born in 1980

Mohammad Kaif was one of the finest fielders of his generation. The former U-19 skipper was born on December 1st 1980, in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. The batter led the side to the U-19 World Cup victory in the year 2000. Kaif became one of the best fielders India ever produced. His father Mohammad Tarif was also a cricketer from Uttar Pradesh (UP) and had played for the famous Bengal club Mohammedan Sporting as well. 

The 42-year-old batter was a product of the famous Green Park Sports Hostel, Kanpur, which has produced several international cricketers like Suresh Raina, RP Singh and Gyanendra Pandey. In the tournament, he led the Men in Blue and did not lose a single game in the U-19 tournament in the year 2000. After his brilliant performance with a junior team, he was selected for the national team in the year 2000 in the test series against South Africa. The batter later on made his debut in the ODI as well. Kaif had a rough patch early on in his career. 

The best innings of his cricketing career came in the 2002 Natwest series final when the batter along with his teammate Yuvraj Singh chased down a target of 326 runs against England at the iconic Lord’s cricket ground. He played a knock of  87 runs off 75 deliveries and was unbeaten till the end. He stitched a partnership of 121 runs for the sixth wicket making sure India created history. He came into bat when the Men in Blue were struggling at 146/5. The innings also earned him his first Man of the Match award in international cricket. He played a key role in India’s win at the 2004 ODI Series against Bangladesh and won the Man of the Series award. 

In the match in the ODI World Cup 2003 against Pakistan Kaif played a vital knock of 35 runs off 60 balls when India lost two quick wickets of Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly and stitched a 102-run partnership with Sachin Tendulkar. He was dropped after Rahul Dravid became the captain of the side. The batter retired in 2018 after being out of the side for a long time. 

Also read: Australian opener Phillip Hughes was born in 1988