Board politics may have claimed Kaif

The talking point of the first day of the first Test vs Zimbabwe today was the exclusion of Mohammad Kaif from the playing XI. In the absenc...

The talking point of the first day of the first Test vs Zimbabwe today was the exclusion of Mohammad Kaif from the playing XI. In the absence of any clear explanation, the finger is being pointed at board politics.

The surprise was sprung on Kaif at the selection meeting on the eve of the Test.

Kaif scored 277 runs at 92.33 from five innings, which included a century and a near-century against New Zealand. Chief selector Kiran More, when contacted over phone, said he would have a word with coach Greg Chappell on the issue.

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It was then believed that word had been in from India about Yuvraj Singh’s inclusion, before the idea struck that probably there was an attempt to pacify the recalcitrant Punjab Cricket Association in view of the approaching Board elections.

It is still in a rumour stage, though.

Figure this out: Kaif or Yuvraj

		The team management’s decision to rest Kaif appears to surprising Recent tri-series • Kaif had scores of 102 n.o. and 93 n.o. against New Zealand and a vital 65 against Zimbabwe • Yuvraj’s 120 in the tri-series was against Zimbabwe while his highest against New Zealand is just 22 runs Averages • Kaif’s ODI average in the last five matches is 92; where he scored 277 runs • Yuvraj’s ODI average in the last five matches is 54; where he scored 216 runs Test scores • Earlier in the Tests, Kaif had scores of 55 on the green top at Nagpur and 25 on a wicked track in Mumbai. Yuvraj, on the other hand, has had no impressive scores to his credit apart from the century and a half century during India’s tour of Pakistan in 2003

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