When a general of great talent and courage was recommended to him, Napoleon (or so the story goes), would always ask,“Yes, but is he lucky ?”
It is a question that could also be asked of cricketers. The history of Indian cricket is littered with players whose careers have been defined by extraordinarily bad luck, so thattheir opportunities and overall record have been blighted by disappointment and underperformance. Unlucky players are those whose manifest ability has simply not been matched by recognition and reward. Every country has them - think of New Zealand’s Rodney Redmond , who hit a century on Test debut and was never picked again - but the Indian experience, as befits a nation conscious of the influences of the planets and other forces beyond an individual’s control, accommodates all known varieties of ill luck.
Spare a thought, too, for Mohammad Kaif . Selected for India against the fearsome paceof South Africa before he was quite ready, thrust unfairly into opening the batting in his second Test series, moved up and down the order and in and out of the side almost at whim, Kaif was never given a chance tosettle down into his natural roleas a dependable middle-order batsman, despite an impressive 148 not out against the West Indies in 2006 in whatturned out to be his last series. He was India’s most reliable performer in the ill-fated 2004-05 tour by Australia whereIndia relinquished the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and yet found himself dropped from the Test side. After winning two ODIs forIndia off his own bat and savingcountless runs in the field with his quick reflexes, there has been no place for him in India’s one-day plans either. A few years ago I was confidently thought of him as India’s next captain; today he would be lucky even to be India’s next 12th man. Life is unfair.
Details Collected : CricInfo ( Articles from Shashi Tharoor )

Batting and fielding averages
Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 4s 6s Ct St
Tests 13 22 3 624 148* 32.84 1548 40.31 1 3 64 2 14 0
ODIs 125 110 24 2753 111* 32.01 3822 72.03 2 17 228 9 55 0
First-class 129 203 22 7581 202* 41.88 15 45 116 0
List A 240 220 38 6693 151* 36.77 6 49 109 0
Twenty20 45 38 6 676 68 21.12 615 109.91 0 4 72 11 22 0

Bowling averages
Mat Inns Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 4w 5w 10
Tests 13 1 18 4 0 - - - 1.33 - 0 0 0
ODIs 125 - - - - - - - - - - - -
First-class 129 1472 709 20 3/4 35.45 2.88 73.6 0 0
List A 240 1154 1002 33 4/23 4/23 30.36 5.20 34.9 2 0 0
Twenty20 45 - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kaif is a dedicated cricketer…...... He is a team player, often plays for the team not for personal records…..... Give him a chance in Indian team if not in ODI give in Test matches he can replace Dravid or Laxman…...... Kaifu the warrior.

I remember kaif n yuvis partnership in winning Natwest Cup…wher Dada removed his shirt n waved towards flintof..awesome memories of team India..

Yes you are right.

i hope kaif comes back to his winning ways.. he still has a lot of cricket left in him…. gud luk Kaif.

he is one of the best cricketers India has produced… hope he finds his run scoring ways soon…

kaif s good cricketer n fielder also… kaif will not taken many matches wen s in form… compare to tiwary, kaif s best…

Awesome fielder

Kaif is an awesome fielder. He should be credited more.

i hope that kaif fight bach n come back in indian squad
hope he has given even chance to prove him by RCB..

My heart bleeds for him..we lost a potential gr8 captain..he should have been in the scheme of things for sure..strange are the ways of the Indian selectors..in tough Indian conditions he has always proved to be the fittest of the lot maintaining his fielding standards..a fine runner between the wickets..a potential future Dravid lost..same with Badrinath n a much lower profile though..he hasn’t even got enuf games for India yet..sad but true..cricket is a tough game..harsh and cruel..Kaif shud have been born somewhere in NZ where there is credit for such cricketers..like Lou Vincent Roger Twose n all..Stephen Fleming also for tht matter..even Ross Taylor was given a lot of chances till he came good and look where he is today..RCB is like team NZ since we have a similar approach towards our selections based on performance n contributions rather than high profiles..thts y we have a Kiwi as our skipper!Kudos team RCB for being so professional and smart in team selections when it comes to this aspect and picking up cricketers like Kaif..cheers

Well said friend…..... India has not used him well… The main culprit behind him was Greg Chapell… He did the same to Zaheer.. Zaheer has opened up but kaif did not….. Kaif is a team player…...... I’m sure one day the other he will be indian test team if not in ODI…..........

Thanks.. Badrinath on* a much lower profile Well we did have high profiles like Peitersen not to say we didn’t but then tht was a pure professional move..though it didn’t come off..Peitersen being made captain is completely justifiable since he’s the perfect unorthodox player with all kinds of shots for T2O..unfortunate he didn’t come up with the goods and we had to let him go..he should have been given a longer run he’s one of my favorite players!

A fighter who lost his image and forgotten, I hope one day again he will make a mark.

Such A Hero..,
      But..

WELL WRITTEN DUDE LOVE THIS