Mohammad Kaif (pronunciation^ⓘ, born 1 December 1980) is a former Indian cricketer, who playedTests andODIs.^[1] He made it to the national team on the strength of his performances at the Under-19 level, where he captained theIndia national under-19 cricket team to victory in theUnder-19 World Cup in 2000. With India, Kaif was a member of the Indian team that was one of the joint-winners of the2002 ICC Champions Trophy, which the title was also shared with Sri Lanka, and he was a member of the team that were runners-up in the2003 Cricket World Cup. He is regarded as one of the greatest Indian fielders.

Mohammad Kaif

Personal information
Born	(1980-12-01)1 December 1980 (age 44) Allahabad,Uttar Pradesh, India
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-armoff break
Role	All-rounder
Relations	Mohammad Tarif (father) Mohammad Saif (brother) Pooja Yadav (Spouse)
International information
National side	India (2000–2006)
Test debut (cap 228)	2 March 2000 v South Africa
Last Test	30 June 2006 v West Indies
ODI debut (cap 142)	28 January 2002 v England
Last ODI	29 November 2006 v South Africa
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1998–2014	Uttar Pradesh
2014–2016	Andhra
2008–2009	Rajasthan Royals
2010	Kings XI Punjab
2011–2012	Royal Challengers Bangalore
2016–2018	Chhattisgarh
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 13 125 186 269 Runs scored 624 2,753 10,229 7,763 Batting average 32.84 32.01 38.60 37.68 100s/50s 1/3 2/17 19/59 6/59 Top score 148* 111* 202* 151* Balls bowled 18 0 1,484 1,166 Wickets 0 0 20 33 Bowling average – – 35.75 30.57 5 wickets in innings – – 0 0 10 wickets in match – – 0 0 Best bowling – – 3/4 4/23 Catches/stumpings 14/– 55/– 170/– 125/–
Medal record Men'sCricket Representing India ICC Cricket World Cup Runner-up 2003 South Africa-Zimbabwe-Kenya ICC Champions Trophy Winner 2002 Sri Lanka ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup Winner 2000 Sri Lanka ACC Asia Cup Runner-up 2004 Sri Lanka
Source:ESPNcricinfo,3 April 2023

He retired from all formats of cricket on 13 July 2018.^[2]

Kaif was born in a middle-class family on 1 December 1980 in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. He started his career fromGreen Park Stadium,Kanpur.^[3] His fatherMohammad Tarif Ansari played for theRailways cricket team and theUttar Pradesh cricket team.^[4] His brotherMohammad Saif plays forMadhya Pradesh cricket team andUttar Pradesh cricket team.^[5]

Kaif married Pooja Yadav, aNoida-based journalist, in 2011. They have 2 children, a son named Kabir and a daughter named Eva.^[6]

As of July 2005, Kaif was amongst the few cricketers from Uttar Pradesh to have represented India on international level.^[7] In 2009, the Indian team had as many as three regulars,Suresh Raina,Praveen Kumar andRudra Pratap Singh from Uttar Pradesh in the ODI team. Kaif was the captain of bothCentral Zone andUttar Pradesh. He also captained the national ODI team in the 2005/06Challenger Trophy in the absence of regular captainRahul Dravid.

Kaif made his Test debut in 2000 againstSouth Africa inBangalore soon after, and was selected in the first intake of theNational Cricket Academy inBangalore.^[8]

His early international career was considered patchy, with the occasional outstanding performance backed up by ordinary batting. His most famous feat was helping India chase down 326 with 87* (off 75 balls) in the 2002NatWest Series Final. The effort earned him his firstMan of the Match award.

In the series againstBangladesh in late 2004, he was named Man of the Series award for his consistency in all the threeODIs.^[9]

Kaif earned himself a Test cap againstSouth Africa while he was quite young at the age of 20, however he was soon dropped from the national side due to some ordinary performances. Kaif made a good comeback to the Test side againstAustralia late in 2004 scoring two half-centuries.

He was a quick runner between the wickets and an excellent cover fielder, most notable for his agility and throwing accuracy. He holds the record for the most catches by a fielder in aWorld Cup match – four, against Sri Lanka in the 2003 World Cup at Johannesburg on 10 March 2003.

The team management tend to use him in the middle order, though his successes have almost always come playing high up – at number 3 rather on number 7. He was often seen scoring more runs while he got some time to settle on the pitch. His usual position in domestic games and in county cricket has been at number 3. But given the number of players in that mould, such as Dravid, Raina, and Yuvraj, Kaif found it difficult to play at the number 3 spot on a consistent basis. With the arrival ofGreg Chappell andRahul Dravid being appointed captain, the number 3 slot was given to eitherIrfan Pathan orMahendra Singh Dhoni to accelerate the scoring rate.

In March 2006, he was recalled to the Test team in place of the injuredYuvraj Singh for the First Test against England inNagpur. Despite top-scoring with a dogged 91 to save the Test match, he was omitted for the following match when Yuvraj had recovered his fitness. But he found a place in the four Tests in the West Indies, after Sachin Tendulkar was injured. He scored 148 not out in the second Test, his maiden Test century.

In late 2006, he was dropped from the ODI team and Test squad. In April 2008, he was recalled to the Test squad for the Second Test against South Africa but did not play.

His techniques of quick running between the wickets whilst rotating the strike but reducing considerable pressure while chasing without even playing much boundaries as well as his ability to break down the chase being in the middle-order has been observed as an adaptation of a similar approach byMichael Bevan.^[10]

He was one of the best fielders in the world of cricket, along withYuvraj Singh. Yuvraj would be positioned on point and Kaif in the covers, and it was a tough call for the opposition to score past this pair; the standard of Indian fielding improved significantly when they were on the field. Unfortunately, many times Kaif couldn't be in the "playing 11" as Yuvraj served the purpose of an all-rounder and was a senior player in the team.

Kaif represented the victoriousRajasthan Royals in the inaugural edition of theIndian Premier League in 2008. He was bought for US$685,000 as an iconic player. Even though he played in all the matches for the team, he had a poor run in the series, mustering only 176 runs at an average of 16. On 15 April 2009, he was axed by Rajasthan Royals team management, which cited his poor form and cost-cutting for the omission from the squad for the 2009 season.^[11]

Kaif was bought for US$250,000 byKings XI Punjab to play in2010 Indian Premier League.^[12]

Kaif was bought byRoyal Challengers Bangalore to play in2011 Indian Premier League, in the third round of bidding. He was the only player requested to appear for bidding for the third time. Later in an interview,Subrata Roy ofSahara India stated that he requested a third round of bidding because he thought that Kaif should find a place in an IPL team.

Mohammad Kaif was drafted forManipal Tigers in 1st season of Legends League Cricket in 2022. He was retained for 2nd season as well.^[13]

In February 2017,Gujarat Lions named Kaif assistant coach ofBrad Hodge for2017 Indian Premier League.He was named the assistant coach forDelhi Capitals for the2019 Indian Premier League and2020 Indian Premier League.

He joinedIndian National Congress and contested2014 Loksabha election fromPhulpur inUttar Pradesh, and lost toKeshav Prasad Maurya of the BJP.^[14] After his loss, Kaif left politics. In an interview in 2018, he said that he was not thinking of joining politics and fight elections once again but "you will never say never".^[15]

• Mohammad Kaif – Profile and Stats – Cricbuzz.com
• Mohammad Kaif atESPNcricinfo