'Getting dropped comes with territory'

Once regarded as one the finest finishers of the game in world cricket, Mohammad Kaif has now been relegated to the pages of oblivion. Did the selectors get their script wrong? Well, going by the way middle-order batsmen were struggling in the Irani Cup, he surely could have been penciled in.

Cooling his heels in his Allahabad home, the hurt in his voice is quite palpable. But he is not admitting.

“Getting dropped from a side comes with the territory. It’s a part and parcel of a professional cricketer’s life. I should have scored big in my last first-class match.” Kaif was referring to his scores of 73 and 87 against South Zone in Duleep Trophy while leading the Central in January 2009.

However, the yearning to be part of the team betrays him. “Irani Cup and Challengers Cup are two major domestic tournaments and it would have been a good opportunity to score some runs. Scoring big in these tournaments would have been a good way to start the season.”

Kaif realizes the futility of sitting back and ruing over the lost opportunity. Instead, he has been silently working on his game for the Ranji season ahead. He frequently visits the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore to work both on his fitness and game.

“I’ve been working hard on my fitness, fielding and batting. I’m as fit as I’ve ever been. Moreover, I have been talking to some former cricketers and they have suggested some minor changes in my game. I’m woking on them,” Kaif says.

Does comeback of Ashish Nehra into the Indian team after four years give him hope? “It surely does. Nehra and Dravid’s comeback gives me a lot of encouragement and motivation. Some time back Sehwag was also telling me about what he did when he was struggling to get back into the team in 2007.”

Perhaps, one thing that has gone against Kaif is lack of big scores in domestic cricket. Last year, he scored 529 runs in the eight Ranji matches, which included two centuries and two half-centuries, but he didn’t quite set the domestic circuit on fire to draw the attention of the selectors. Though the knock of 144, his highest of the season, against Andhra Pradesh did get the UP team a valuable first innings lead and three points in the bargain. However, a highest score of 160 in first-class cricket doesn’t do justice to his talent and temperament.

“I did bat reasonably well last year but I realized that I haven’t scored double or triple centuries. This season, one of my aims is to play long innings and get a couple of double or even a triple century under my belt.”

The intent in his voice is unmistakable, now it needs to be translated into runs. Coming from the backwater of Uttar Pradesh, winning over selectors is not easy and he knows that. “I need to bat consistently and score some big runs. I’m reasonably confident to get it right this season.”

He may not be a spring chicken but at 28 years Kaif hasn’t quite missed the bus. Batsmen are known to reach their peak in late 20s. With Indian middle order still struggling to acquire that desired solidity, there lurks a ray of hope for this Uttar Pradesh batsman.

Any plan for India comeback? “I don’t have a ready answer to that. I just want to score runs this season. That is the only thing which is under my control. I’ll leave the rest to the selectors.”