Mohammad Kaif believes that his new batting position has given a fresh lease to his career and thewily youngster is happy to have justified the faith reposed on him by his captain.
The middle order batsman struggled to get the runs in the early stages of the recent World Cup but the team management'sdecision to promote him to the number four slot midway through the tournament seems to have worked wonders to his confidence.
Kaif is now keen to repay the trust shown by his captain Saurav Ganguly by scoring runs consistently.
The promotion has given him the opportunity to settle down and build the innings and his unbeaten 95 off 103 ballsin the TVS Cup against South Africa yesterday speaks volumes of his new-found confidence.
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"I was waiting for such an innings for quite a while. It is a great feeling to have contributed to the team's cause andI hope to keep doing it more often," Kaif said.
Kaif knows that the number four position will provide him the chance of getting big knocks and also improve upon his records which have not reflected his immensepotential. He has a one-day aggregate of 1017 runs in 50 matches (41 innings) at an average of 31.78.
The stylish batsman may have missed what could have been his second one-day century yesterday, but the team-man thathe is, Kaif feels that the interest of the team is more important than achieving personal milestones.
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"Not getting the century does not disturb me. I am quite happy to do the job for my country. You play for the team notfor yourself," he said.
Kaif is part of the young brigade which has injected the much-needed enthusiasm in Indian cricket. Kaif, alongwithYuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra are seen as the future 'backbone' of theteam.
Apart from his batting skills, the 22-year-old Kaif's electrifying fielding and superb running between the wicketshave made him a real asset in the shorter version of the game.
It is these departments in which the team has seen a remarkable improvement in recent times and the young breed ofcricketers have been largely responsible for this.
Kaif and his friend Yuvraj are also considered to be the best runners between the wickets and the mix-up between thetwo during yesterday's match against South Africa did come as a surprise.
"I have a very good understanding with Yuvraj but it is one of those things that can happen in a game. This is onlythe second time that the two of us were involved in a run-out," Kaif said.
"At that stage I was a little worried because Yuvraj was playing well and he is in good form. We needed him at thattime. But (Dinesh) Mongia played a great knock which helped us get a big total," Kaif said.
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Like any professional cricketer, Kaif feels the players have to adjust to the conditions at various venues and playaccording to the requirement.
"The conditions here are hot and humid and it is definitely not easy for the bowlers, but then you have to adjust," Kaif said.
The right-hander is now seen as a regular in the one-day squad having put a few impressive knocks in his new battingposition.
Kaif's elevation to the senior national team has come the hard way and it was his consistent show at the junior levelwhich eventually forced the selectors to take note of him and draft him into the senior team.
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It was his showing in the Under-19 world Cup that brought him into national reckoning. He did not exactly fail in hisdebut Test against a rampaging South African side and has gone from strength to strength from there on.
PTI
