“Dada do you think you missed a trick”: Mohammad Kaif hints at Sourav Ganguly not spotting all-rounder in him after picking wicket in LLC Special Match

Mohammad Kaif hints at Sourav Ganguly missing a trick: The former Indian batter rolled his arm for a couple of deliveries last night.

LLC Special Match to kick-start the second season of Legends League Cricket was a success after India Maharajas chased down a 171-run target with six wickets and eight balls remaining in the match against World Giants.

In a bit of spot of bother after being reduced to 50/3 in the seventh over, batter Tanmay Srivastava (54) and all-rounder Yusuf Pathan (50*) scored individual half-centuries in a match-winning 62-ball 103-run fourth-wicket partnership at the Eden Gardens last night.

While Srivastava hit eight fours and a six at a strike rate of 138.46, Pathan hit five fours and two sixes at a strike rate of 142.85 during a counterattacking stand. Pathan was joined by younger brother Irfan Pathan (20*) in the 18th over as the latter hit three sixes to seal the chase in the penultimate over.

However, Maharajas pacer Pankaj Singh was adjudged the Player of the Match for his bowling figures of 4-1-26-5. Called upon to bowl as a first-change bowler in the powerplay by captain Harbhajan Singh, Pankaj dismissed Hamilton Masakadza (18), Tatenda Taibu (7), Romesh Kaluwitharana (2), Tim Bresnan (0) and Daniel Vettori (0).

Mohammad Kaif hints at Sourav Ganguly not spotting all-rounder in him after picking wicket in LLC Special Match

Maharajas batter Mohammad Kaif, who scored a 12-ball 11 after coming in to bat at No. 4 yesterday, brought his bowling into the limelight via a tweet about an hour ago.

Kaif, who had bowled a total of three overs across his 138-match international career, was needed to bowl a couple of deliveries to cover up for injured pacer Ashok Dinda.

Welcomed by former Sri Lanka all-rounder Thisara Perera (23) into the bowling attack with a six, Kaif made immediate amends by picking a second-ball wicket. Kaif, who bowled a flighted delivery outside the off-stump, enticed Perera into playing another big shot. With the left-handed batter mis-timing the ball, Maharajas’ Parwinder Awana completed a catch at short third-man.

Bringing into light his flight, drift and turn, Kaif asked his former India captain Sourav Ganguly if he missed a trick during his captaincy days by not recognizing an all-rounder in him.

Having made his ODI debut under Ganguly, Kaif went on to represent India in 87 matches across formats under him.