The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Kaif looking forward to India A tours

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 20, 2007
ePaper

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Kaif looking forward to India A tours

Special Correspondent

MUMBAI: Mohd. Kaif, leading the India ‘A’ team setting out for a tour of Kenya and Zimbabwe, is looking forward to the assignment.

“Playing out of India, under different conditions and on different wickets, always helps. I want to go out and enjoy the tour, rather than worry about the future,” said the middle-order batsman, familiar with captaincy responsibility from India U-19 World Cup days.

He addressed the media, alongside coach Chandrakant Pandit, at the BCCI’s Cricket Centre on Thursday.

Kaif, one the sensations of India’s NatWest Series triumph in England, is watching the international action on television after being sidelined from the Test and one-day squads in 2006.

Former Mumbai Ranji and current Maharashtra coach, Pandit, is on his first India ‘A’ tour.

“I know each and every player on the team, so already have a rapport with them,” said the former India wicketkeeper, looking ahead at the chance to work with the talent provided to him.

“I believe in working with the force you have, instead of thinking of players you can get.”

The India A team is bubbling with talent, all looking for a chance to make a mark, leaving the coach in a difficult situation of creating opportunities for every one.

India will feature in a triangular one-day series with Sri Lanka ‘A’ and Kenya, each team playing the other twice before a final in Nairobi on August 23, according to information from Cricket Kenya.

This will be followed by a Twenty20 tournament, though competing teams have not been announced yet.

India A team: Mohammad Kaif (Capt.), Parthiv Patel, Robin Uthappa, Cheteshwar Pujara, S. Badrinath, Rohit Sharma, Rajesh Pawar, Mahesh Rawat (wk), Piyush Chawla, Arjun Yadav, Pragyan Ojha, Irfan Pathan, V.R.V. Singh, V. Yomahesh, Panka j Singh, Niraj Patel. Coach: Chandrakant Pandit.