"Forget that you travel in big cars and flights and that you may not get VIP treatment"- Mohammad Kaif urges Indian batters to play Ranji before BGT
Mohammad Kaif has urged the struggling Indian batters to play the fifth round of the ongoing 2024-25 Ranji Trophy ahead of the all-important Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. The Indian batters endured a torrid time with the bat in the recent home Test series whitewash against New Zealand, scoring sub-200 in three out of the six innings.
The fifth round of the Ranji Trophy will be played from November 13 to 16, and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will start a week later, on November 22.
When asked if the Indian batters should play a round of Ranji before the Australian tour, Kaif said in a video on his X handle:
“Absolutely. They need form, and they need to bat hours there. If they end up scoring a hundred, then it will benefit them immensely and serve as a morale booster. So whoever thinks that they are struggling to score runs and did not get enough game time, they should 100 per cent play in domestic cricket. Forget that you travel in big cars and flights and that you may not get VIP treatment there. If you want to find form, you need to put in that effort."
India also suffered the embarrassment of recording their lowest-ever total at home, 46 all-out, in the first innings of the series opener against New Zealand.
Barring Rishabh Pant, no other Indian batter scored 200 runs in the three Tests as India surrendered their first home Test series since 2012-13.
"Pant had played a practice match in that tour" - Mohammad Kaif on 2020-21 BGT
Mohammad Kaif pointed to Rishabh Pant playing a practice match before the 2020/21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy and scoring a century to amplify the importance of scoring runs before a crucial series.
The southpaw scored a brilliant 73-ball 103* in the game against Australia A just days before the first Test.
"Let me remind you of Rishabh Pant here. He ended up scoring the winning run in Gabba, but he was neither part of the ODI nor the T20I squad in that tour. He only went for the Test series, where Wriddhiman Saha played ahead of him. But India incurred that '36 all out' and we lost the match, Pant was included. But remember, Pant had played a practice match in that tour, in a Pink Ball match supposedly, and scored a century, after which he was included in the XI so he emerged as a whole different player then," said Kaif.
Pant carried on his form to the Australia Tests where his heroics helped India pull off a miraculous 2-1 series win.
The 27-year-old played the final three Tests after India suffered a crushing defeat in the opening encounter and scored 274 runs at an average of 68.50. Pant's incredible 89* in India's successful run-chase of 328 in the final Test at Brisbane helped them win the series 2-1.