Ex-Indian cricketer calls BGT loss a ‘blessing in disguise’

Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif has called India’s loss in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy a ‘blessing in disguise.’

Discussing the tourists’ performance in the recently concluded series in Australia, the former batter said that a win in the final AUS v IND game might have given batters a chance to escape criticism.

“It’s good that they lost this time around [in Border-Gavaskar Trophy] because Bumrah might have gotten fit and won the match. Bumrah would’ve been the hero and taken all the credit. But what about the stains on Virat Kohli and Indian cricket in Test matches, nobody would’ve washed it,” he said in a video posted to X.

According to Mohammad Kaif, the defeat in the AUS v IND series and the whitewash by New Zealand in the home Test series will trigger all-round changes.

“Now there will be work to wash the stains after the loss because now we realise that we lost three Test matches against New Zealand and again lost 1-3 in Australia after winning the first Test. If we had won and made it 2-2, we wouldn’t have been discussing that. You have six out of the last eight Tests. It’s time to clean that up,” he said.

Mohammad Kaif took aim at the Indian batters who had a dismal outing in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia.

Opening batter Yashasvi Jaiswal had the highest average among Indian batters, having scored with an average of 43.44, followed by Nitish Kumar Reddy with an average of 37.25.

India’s top and middle order, including Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant failed miserably in the AUS v IND Test.

Rohit Sharma had an average of 6.2, Virat Kohli scored at an average of 23.75 while Shubman Gill ended the series with an average of 18.6.

Reacting to the Indian batters’ outing in the last couple of series, Mohammad Kaif said that an Indian batter has not won a Man of the Series award in a long time.

“It’s now time that the Test match should be prioritised. Especially batting, whenever we win at home as well. If you remove Ashwin and Jadeja, we still would lose at home. Remind me when was the last time when a batter won the Man of the Series?” he said.