Mohammad Kaif Critical Of Virat Kohli For Not Backing Players

If criticisms about Virat Kohli’s captaincy exist, it is often about team selections, combinations, and the failure to back players enough. Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif has hit out on Kohli for his lack of confidence in players. Kaif especially lamented the misuse of Rishabh Pant, who he believes hadn’t been given a good run in international cricket.

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The former U-19 World Cup-winning skipper pointed out the experiments carried out by Kohli during the 2019 World Cup. Mohammad Kaif stated that the 31-year old chose players, who were without much exposure. Furthermore, he must support them when some athletes are out of form, which is the only way to create a good team.

All-rounder Vijay Shankar’s selection came as a surprise to aplenty ahead of specialist batsman Ambati Rayudu. Shankar, who played only five ODIs, before the event in England, played three during the tournament without any impactful performance. The men in blue’s promising campaign came to a wretched end at the semi-final, having lost to New Zealand.

“Kohli is doing a lot of experiments with team selection. He should not have done that. Kohli tried many combinations and even selected players who don’t have so much exposure during the last World Cup. Kohli should focus and back his team selection. If any player lost his form for some matches, still he should support him. Kohli should make the players. Then only he can create a good team.” Kaif said during a session in Helo app.

Pant should not be the water boy for the team: Mohammad Kaif

Speaking about the wicket-keeper conundrum, Mohammad Kaif believes that KL Rahul can be a good backup option in limited-overs cricket; however, not a permanent one. The 39-year old went on to say if Rishabh Pant is MS Dhoni’s successor, then he needs proper support instead of carrying drinks for the team. The side needs to have a permanent candidate for the keeper’s role.

“Even for the wicketkeeping role, they are shuffling many players. India needs a permanent specialist wicketkeeper. KL Rahul can be a backup wicketkeeper but I don’t think he should be the main. If you want to support Rishabh Pant over Dhoni, then Kohli should back him. He should not be the water boy of the team.” he added.

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