Mohammad Kaif Rubbishes Ravi Shastri's Comparison Claims With Previous Teams

One of the greatest fielders to have played the game of cricket, Mohammad Kaif has come hard at Team India head coach Ravi Shastri for his comments regarding the current lot. He said that this team has the best run in the last 15-20 years. However former skippers like Sourav Ganguly and Sunil Gavaskar has also criticised Shastri for his comparison with other previous teams.

There is no doubt about the fact that it is very unfair to compare the previous generation cricketers with the current group.

In the yesteryears, the team was loaded with exceptional batsmen who knew the traits of playing in foreign conditions.

However, in the era of Twenty20 cricket, batting in a Test match has become that more difficult. Kaif further added apart from Virat Kohli none of the current players can be compared with the players of the yesteryears.

Shastri had said recently, “I can’t see any other Indian team in the last 15-20 years that have had the same run in such a short time, and you have had some great players playing in those series. So the promise is there, and it’s just about getting tougher mentally”.

However, Kaif stated that it was pretty unfair to compare the two generations.

“I don’t know whether Ravi Shastri is right or wrong. However, if you compare players, then it is unfair. When we played under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly in 2002, we won there. The current batting coach of India, Sanjay Bangar was the opener with Virender Sehwag. Rahul Dravid was the captain of the side when we won in West Indies in 2006. I was also part of that series. If we compare those era’s players and the current Indian players, there is a day and night difference,” he maintained.

“Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag, they were big players. When we used to go on overseas tour in those times, these players had the skills to play in foreign conditions. Now, it is the T20 era, where players like to be more aggressive in their approach. That is why we got dismissed here. While playing in India, we play on flat pitches whereas we are playing on seaming pitches in England,” he asserted.

Mohammad Kaif didn’t agree with what Ravi Shastri recently said to the media:

Consequently, you need to alter your technique. So, don’t compare those great players with these players. In fact, except Virat Kohli, no current player is close to previous generation player,” Kaif further added.

India doesn’t have any results to show for their efforts in overseas conditions. They had not managed to win a series in SENA conditions since 2009 when they won a Test series in New Zealand.

In conclusion, there was a great chance for India in the ongoing series against England. However, they put it to waste by losing crucial junctures of the game.