Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif has questioned Gautam Gambhir’s statement in the presser after India suffered a 0-2 series whitewash against South Africa. Gambhir said that more than the skills, they need players with strong character and mental strength.

Kaif said the team management should bring in batters with such qualities into the team. The former UP batter urged the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel to pick players like Sarfaraz Khan, Karun Nair, and Abhimanyu Easwaran, who have performed consistently in the Ranji Trophy.

Mohammad Kaif said on his YouTube Channel, “He must be realising this now. When Gautam came in the press conference and said the batters need to show they are mentally strong and technically sound, then bring in batters who can actually do that. All these batters who are playing right now are white-ball specialists. Very few of them play Ranji. The ones who play Ranji and score a thousand runs, like Sarfaraz Khan and Easwaran, you take any name, there are many. Karun Nair scored so many runs in Indian conditions, then got a few chances and was dropped again.”

Kaif said India should go with players who perform consistently in the domestic circuit. The former RCB batter said the team has failed to find a reliable number three batter after Cheteshwar Pujara’s retirement.

“So I am saying, go forward with the ones who perform well in domestic cricket. Look at the situation now, Washington Sundar is playing at number three. This is the condition of Indian cricket right now. You do not have a proper number three batter. Number three was Rahul Dravid and Pujara, they gave their whole lives to that position. Pujara kept scoring hundreds. He did not even get out in Australia. He batted the whole day. Who bats the whole day? First tell me that.”

India’s batting needs to be sorted in the red-ball format and the team has time to work on its weaknesses ahead of the next series against Sri Lanka in 2026.