Mohammad Amir Brutally Roasts India Great With Sourav Ganguly Reference

Mohammad Amir rips into Mohammad Kaif [Source: TsMeSalman, CricketCentrl/X.com]

The verbal spat between former India and Pakistan cricketers, Mohammad Kaif and Mohammad Amir, has extended another day, weeks after the India-Pakistan match at the ICC T20 World Cup ended.

This time around, Amir has ripped into Mohammad Kaif after the latter called the Pakistani out for his recent statements on Abhishek Sharma, terming him a slogger. The 33-year-old has questioned Kaif's credentials for representing India and has dragged the legendary Sourav Ganguly into the matter.

Amir credits Ganguly for giving Kaif a career

In recent days, the southpaw has openly called out Abhishek Sharma on his poor form and said the world number 1 batter is a slogger and has no technique. In response to Amir's questionable statements, Kaif took to his YouTube channel and felt that Amir is an attention seeker.

Amir did not take the criticism well and immediately hit back at Kaif and taunted him about having an Indian career only because of Sourav Ganguly — hinting at favouritism.

"I don't know about his cricketing career, how much he's played. I checked his stats; he just played 29 matches in the IPL. He has a strike rate of 103. He said that I was speaking about India to gain some attention. Firstly, I don't need to get attention by speaking about India. Mr Kaif, I have played 350 T20s; you can check my stats. Main bas fielding pe cricket nahi khela."

"I have played after giving performances. Aap Dada ko thank you bole (you should be thankful to Dada). I have heard that you played cricket only because of your fielding. You are a cricketer; these sorts of statements don't suit you,” he said.

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Did Kaif play for India because of Ganguly?

Kaif emerged as one of the young sensations after India's memorable U19 World Cup 2000 win, as he captained the team consisting of Yuvraj Singh and Venugopal Rao, among others.

He soon made his India debut in the same year and went on to play 13 Tests for 624 runs, including a century. However, his best performances came in the ODIs, where he got a longer rope, playing 125 matches and scoring 2753 runs as a lower-middle order batter.

Due to a stacked batting line-up, the opportunities were few, but he made his mark in the field, revolutionising how India went about their business as a fielding side. Under Sourav Ganguly, he helped India win the Natwest Trophy 2002, with a match-winning 87*(75) from 146/5 as they chased 326 runs.

While former India captain Ganguly backed him from time to time, he also repaid the faith shown in him with some performances lower down the order. He also boasts over 10000 FC runs and close to 8000 List A runs to his name.

Is Amir's criticism of Abhishek fair?

Since the end of the 2024 T20 World Cup, Abhishek emerged as one of the finest openers in T20 cricket and has risen to the number 1 ranking. Ahead of the start of the ongoing T20 World Cup, he was the 4th highest scorer in the period with 1297 runs in just 37 innings, scoring at a whopping rate of 194.74 and 88 sixes to his name.

Some criticism around his form has been fair, and Abhishek has rushed into some of his shots and looked underconfident in the competition. However, as dissected by many experts, it is unfair to call him a slogger, with the bat swing he has and the quality he has shown in a considerable number of matches.

With an all-important final to be played against New Zealand on Sunday, he will have another opportunity to show his class and shut the critics in Ahmedabad.

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