Mohammad Kaif shames Shubman Gill with ‘no proper captain’ verdict, claims UP can beat West Indies
Table of Contents
Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif launched a scathing attack on Shubman Gill, as he remarked that India are losing Tests due to his lack of experience.
India lost the South Africa Tests, and the blame cannot be put solely on the Indian head coach, as the captain, Shubman Gill, is equally responsible. While Shubman Gill missed out on both the Test matches, Rishabh Pant, who stood as his deputy, also had to bear the heat of disappointment.
Mohammad Kaif sidelines Gautam Gambhir and holds Shubman Gill responsible for India's dismay
In a discussion on his YouTube channel, when asked if the India team is coach-dependent, Kaif refused to put the blame only on Gautam Gambhir and rather opined that India had faced issues due to a poor choice of captaincy in Shubman Gill.
“Look, you have to face the truth. Right now, they don’t have a proper captain. Shubman Gill has only just started captaining. Tell me first, how much captaincy has he done in India? Don’t talk about the West Indies, don’t compare the West Indies. Even an UP Ranji team can beat them. So what I’m saying is that they still don’t really have a captain,” he said.
He pointed out that neither Shubman Gill nor the vice-captain Rishabh Pant has had enough experience to lead the Test side in conditions at or away from home. They stood against the World Champions of Test cricket and hence had to meet the consequences.
“Rishabh Pant is captaining his very first Test match. You have someone who has never captained before, yet he is leading the team against the World Test Champion. Shubman Gill is also a new captain, and you have new players, so ups and downs will happen,” he added.
Kaif highlights that playing on flat pitches has kept Indian youngsters away from challenges
After taking a dig at Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant's captaincy, Mohammad Kaif further highlighted that the young Indian cricketers lacked batting prowess, as they have played on even tracks and have never faced such unpleasant batting conditions.
The likes of Sai Sudharsan and Dhruv Jurel have played on tracks that do not test the batter's ability to this extent, and hence, that needs to be fixed. Overall, Kaif said that India went wrong in many areas and need to rectify them all.
“Here, someone like Sudharsan plays on seaming tracks, in IPL they play on flat pitches, Jurel too plays mostly on flat or seaming pitches. Where do they even play on turning tracks? That’s what I’m trying to say. There are eight to ten issues that have gone wrong. It’s difficult to pinpoint just one. They have a lot of things to fix right now,” he added.
Kaif mentions South Africa's pros over England's cons that led to contradicting results
When Mohammad Kaif attacked the Indian skipper for his lack of experience, he was asked how India under the same skipper drew the five-match away series against England.
To this, the former Indian batter claimed that, unlike England, which had dropped several chances and had failed to capitalize at crucial junctures of the game, South Africa is a better side that does not make such blunders. He shed light on Aiden Markram's record of 9 catches in just a two-match series and stunning efforts from Rickelton, Jansen, and others on the field.
“England is sitting at number six in the Test rankings. You’ve overrated England; they’re not some huge, unbeatable team. Neither Broad nor Anderson was there; all new bowlers were playing. Even after that, you couldn’t win the series. It ended 2-2, and in the last Test you actually lost," he said.
“If you look here, South Africa has proper bowlers like Jansen, he’s tall, and spinners in the likes of Maharaj and Harmer. India also dropped catches in the England series, but England were much worse. Joe Root and Jadeja scored a hundred because of dropped catches; how many examples should I give you? South Africa doesn't make these kinds of mistakes."
Tagged:
India National Cricket Team South Africa National Cricket Team West Indies National Cricket Team Shubman Gill Gautam Gambhir Mohammed Kaif India vs South Africa Rishabh Pant
