Mohammad Kaif

Whenever an Indian cricket fanatic hears Mohammad Kaif’s name, they straightaway rethink that heroic knock from the NatWest Final in 2002 against England. Kaif became an overnight sensation when he captained the Indian U-19 to victory in the 2000 world event. He was a promising middle-order batsman who had a rock-solid technique, apart from being an acrobatic fieldsman protecting point and backward point region. 

Post the U-19 World Cup, a 20-year-old Kaif was placed into the Indian Test team to make his debut in front of his home crowd at Crickxon Park, Kanpur in 2000. In the following season, the youngster could only play a couple more games before getting dropped from the national team. 

Kaif was recalled in the Indian team during the England series in 2002 where he made his ODI debut, but it wasn’t until the consequent NatWest Tri-series when the promising batsman became an Indian sensation. In the final of the Tri-Series, when all the Indian superstars - including Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sourav Ganguly fell; Kaif alongside Yuvraj Singh stitched a 121-run stand before the former finished off a remarkable 326-run chase. 

After his heroics at Lord's, Kaif became an integral part of the Indian white-ball squad, although he faced stiff competition with Yuvraj for a Test spot. The Allahabad-born batsman was a regular in the ODI team until late 2006 as a string of poor performances sidelined Kaif out of the Indian setup. 

Over the years, Kaif has featured in various IPL franchises. He was the most expensive buy for the Rajasthan Royals team that won the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League in 2008, apart from representing Kings XI Punjab (Punjab Kings) and Royal Challengers Bangalore. In 2018, Kaif retired from cricket on the 16th anniversary of the memorable NatWest final and now has transformed himself into an assistant coach. 

(As of April 2021)