Mohammad Kaif

July 13th 2002, Lord's, London: A young batsman came in at number 6 after the loss of big guns like Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly in a chase of 326. Even the 21-year-old's parents, admittedly, changed channels after Tendulkar was dismissed and started watching Devdas on television. What would a rookie manage to do if the Little Master himself was back in the hut? In an Indian team that had made it a habit to lose big finals, a loss to England in the final in their den wouldn't have come as a big surprise. Little did they know, that the entire landscape of Indian cricket was about to change in the hour that followed, courtesy their rookie son.

Kaif was the skipper of the Indian team that won the Under-19 World Cup in 2000, and brought about a revolution in fielding with some athletic fielding and catch which was rather unusual for an Indian cricketer of the years gone by. His selection in the national team was largely a result of his achievements at the Under-19 level. After being handed a Test cap against South Africa in 2000, he was dropped after a string of poor performances and went onto play onto a sum total of 13 Tests and no more than 125 ODIs.

Nevertheless, it was that evening at Lord's that Kaif scored an unbeaten 75-ball 87 and was involved in a composed 121-run sixth wicket partnership with Yuvraj Singh to deliver a final victory for the ages. The triumph at Lord's continues to be an extremely special moment in Indian cricket history as Kaif steered India home in the final over with Zaheer Khan for company and sparked wild celebrations all around, including skipper Sourav Ganguly's infamous mockery Flintoff's Mumbai antics with a shirt-waving act in the pilgrimage site of cricket. Kaif was adjudged the Man of the match for his magnificent knock as India managed to achieve the target of 326 - a huge ask in the age of reasonably-sized bats and unabridged boundaries as a scarred Indian team with a final-phobia started to believe in themselves; believe that they could achieve their goals without the assistance of the big guns in their line-up.

Kaif followed his fine performance in England with a brilliant century against Zimbabwe in the Champions Trophy as India went on to share the title with Sri Lanka after the final got washed out on the reserve day as well. Kaif also made a good comeback to the Test side, scoring two fifties against Australia in the home series of 2004. However, he couldn't hold on to his position in the team and was soon replaced. In March 2006, Kaif was recalled to the Test team to replace an injured Yuvraj Singh. Kaif's score of 91 helped India save the Test match in Nagpur, but a rather harsh call meant Yuvraj was recalled for the second Test. Sachin Tendulkar's injury meant Kaif was once again rewarded with a spot in the playing XI, but he had become the quintessential replacement player as India made their way to the West Indies. His maiden Test century came in the second Test match, where he scored an unbeaten 148 as India piled on a mammoth 588 in the first innings. Kaif's luck in Tests though ran out after he scored 0, 13 and 6 in his next three innings and in late 2006, he was dropped from the ODI squad as well due to a string of poor performances. In 2008, he was named in the squad for the second Test against South Africa, but he didn't get a game as the Indian side looked to the younger options.

Kaif featured for Rajasthan Royals in their victorious campaign in the inaugural season, but he was omitted from the squad in 2009 by the team management. His poor form was cited as the main reason behind his axing. He has also represented Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore but has failed to make a mark in the Indian Premier League. Kaif served as the assistant coach in the Gujarat Lions franchise. He still hasn't officially announced his retirement and continues to play in the Indian domestic circuit, but having played his last internationals in 2006, it looks highly unlikely that he will make a national comeback. Nevertheless, Kaif's moment in the sun will remain in the hearts of cricket-lovers forever: when a nation had stopped believing, a rookie batsman dared to win bring glory to his side.

Written by Rishi Roy