'Will always be close to my heart': Mohammad Kaif on why he chose to retire on July 13

Mohammad  Kaif has revealed why he decided to hang up his boots on July 13. It was on this very day in 2018 that Kaif had bid adieu to the game. He was an integral member of the Indian squad from 2000 to 2006 and has been a part of many of Team India's famous moments that include the Natwest tri-series win on English soil in 2002, the ICC Champions Trophy 2002 (India and Sri Lanka were declared as joint-winners, finishing as the runners-up in the 2003 World Cup, registering a famous win on Pakistan soil (ODI & Test series) in 2003/04, winning a Test series on Caribbean soil in 2006 after a long wait of 35 years, etc. However, a slump in form meant that he failed to cement his place in the national side after 2006.

'Will always be close to my heart': Mohammad Kaif 

“July 13 will always be close to my heart. It changed my life. I wanted to make that day memorable, so I announced my retirement on July 13, 2018. It will always remain a special day for me,” said Kaif while speaking to India Today.

“It was a completely new situation for me. I hadn’t faced something like that before, where you were playing a crucial final. Back then, there was a trend that India would qualify for the final but would eventually miss out on the title. It appeared that we were the best team till the final, but somehow things would go incredibly wrong in the last hurdle, so we were desperate to break the jinx,” the former middle-order batsman added.

“Ahead of the final, there were a lot of discussions on how to tame the home team. But in the end, all that meant very little as England posted a mammoth 325. Those were the days when anything above 300 looked like an uphill task. So, as England piled on the runs, the Indian camp looked dejected and we knew that we failed to get the monkey off our back. After all, who would have thought that we could script a turnaround!” the cricketer-turned-commentator/analyst further added. 

When Kaif stunned England at the Lords'

Mohammad Kaif had scored an unbeaten 87 in that contest and was adjudged Man of the Match for his stellar innings which helped India snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. He added 121 runs with Yuvraj Singh (69) for the sixth wicket when it seemed to be curtains down for the Sourav Ganguly-led side at 146/5. The duo then took matters into their own hands and smashed the English bowlers all around the park to help India register a famous win at the 'Mecca' of cricket.

What made this win even more special was that prior to this contest, the Men In Blue were not regarded as good chasers back then and at the same time, had also lost nearly 10 finals as well.  However, what had really stood out in the contest is that Hussain had sledged Kaif when he had come out to bat by calling him a 'Bus Driver' when India were in no position to win that contest.

Nonetheless, the rest as they say his history as the UP cricketer made his bat do the talking.

Mohammad Kaif's Cracking Reply To Nasser Hussain's Insult In Natwest 2002 Final: Watch