Mohammad Kaif: Sledging within limits is fine, but family should be kept out

The world is debating the ugly sledging row between David Warner and Quinton de Kock — the verbal abuse between the two cricketers involved slurs on Warner’s wife and de Kock’s sister.

Mohammad Kaif, meanwhile, shared on Twitter his experiences of sledging, stating that former English cricket captain Nasser Hussain once called him a “bus driver”.

Yes, Nasser Hussain actually called me a Bus driver :) was good to take them for a ride ! https://t.co/wUeeUnowdN

— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) February 27, 2018

“When sledging is within limits, it’s fine. But when it gets personal, about family members; it is not related to cricket, it gets out of hand,” Kaif told ETPanache over the phone. “In heated moments, drawing the line is tough for cricketers.”

War of words
During his fan interaction on the social media platform earlier this month, the 37-year-old spoke of his 2003 World Cup experience in South Africa when Pakistani players Taufeeq Umar, Shahid Afridi and Azhar Mahmood heaped “unheard of abuses” on him.

Kaif looks back at it today with equanimity. “Sledging is very common. It often starts off as a war of words and then snowballs. A group of players or a player consciously decides to target a certain player and demoralise them.”

The former under - 19 captain also shared with his fans online how ex-English cricket captain Nasser Hussain called him a bus driver during the 2002 NatWest series final. Kaif responded with a solid knock of 87 runs, helping India win the match. Let the game do the talking Kaif told ETPanache that he’s done his share of sledging too, but never let it go out of bounds.

“I would mostly let my game do the talking. There were times during my career when I did give it back. When I sledged Yousuf Youhana in the 2005 Test match in Kolkata, it made him lose his concentration and wicket,” he says.

Kaif remembers the incident with a laugh. The Indian team agreed that while they were bowling well, Youhana was toiling away with the bat. Since Kaif was at short leg, he was reportedly deputed to “remind” Youhana that he was playing badly. “I told him in Hindi, ‘You have played so many balls, but you have not hit a single boundary.’ In two balls after I said this, he hit a bad shot and was out.”.