Image: Mohammad Kaif criticized India's strategy approach after their loss to Australia / © NDTV Sports
Cricket experts and former players are advising Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to participate in the second round of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25, starting January 23, due to their poor form since September. Kohli has averaged just 30 runs since 2022, with 190 runs in nine innings during the recent Australia tour.
Mohammad Kaif urged Indian players to return to domestic cricket and face challenging conditions to prepare for the difficulties of red-ball cricket. He emphasized this in a video posted on his X handle on January 5, especially after India failed to qualify for the WTC Final 2025. He said:
On 23rd February, India will earn a lot of praise by beating Pakistan (in the Champions Trophy 2025), and everyone will say we are a champion team in white-ball cricket. But if India wants to win the World Test Championship, then we will have to make a Test match team. We will have to learn to play on seaming tracks. The truth is that we are just white-ball bullies. We are lagging too far behind. If we have to win WTC, then players will have to play domestic cricket on turning tracks and will have to practice on seaming tracks; otherwise, we will not be able to win.
Mohammad Kaif stressed that if India wants to win the World Test Championship, they must build a strong Test team capable of handling difficult seaming conditions and turning pitches. He criticized the team for currently being “just white-ball bullies”, meaning they focus more on limited-overs cricket and struggle in longer formats.