Mohammad Kaif is choosing to take inspiration from Ashish Nehra and Rahul Dravid. At 28, with doors to the Indian team seemingly shut on him, Kaif hasn’t given up. “Nehra and Dravid’s comebacks show that if one is fit and motivated enough, it’s not impossible,” Kaif says.

This season could well be his last chance to show that he still has something to offer to the national team. Dumped in the last month of 2006, a Test call-up against South Africa in 2008 came as a lifeline for the middle order batsman but the chance slipped by as suddenly as it had come. The most expensive player for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League in the first edition couldn’t even find a place in that team for the second.

Domestic bliss

“It can happen in sport,” he says with a shrug, “but you don’t give up. I have been fairly successful in domestic cricket in the last three years, and my team Uttar Pradesh have been pretty successful under my captaincy, so all I can do is to score more runs this season. The selectors have to make the choice and I have always believed that runs speak for you. If I do well, I have a chance. If I don’t score the runs, I can’t blame others. But for me, my India dream is far from getting over. Batsmen gain maturity with experience.”

In Chandigarh to play for Air India Blue in the BCCI Corporate Trophy, Kaif says: “I am fitter than ever and raring to perform at the top level. Recently, I went to England to play for Rajasthan Royals against some county sides. I did reasonably well there, so I am quite happy with my form. The Corporate Trophy will also be an opportunity for me because if you hit good form at the beginning of the season, you go into the first-class matches full of confidence,” he adds.

... contd.