Furious at an umpiring decision, Mohammad Kaif stages walkout during a Vijay Hazare clash

Former India international and the skipper of Chattisgarh, Mohammad Kaif on Monday decided to stage a protest for an umpiring decision during a Vijay Hazare clash against Karnataka. The veteran cricketer who represented India in 125 ODIs and 13 Tests staged a walkout from the ground after an umpiring decision went against them. On field umpires, Virender Sharma and Umesh Dubey denied for a TV referral when they didn’t have any conclusive evidence.

Kaif returned to the field along with his team only after the intervention from Match Referee Nitin Goel. He wasn’t suspended for any matches and got away with a warning but his match fees were deducted. Kaif was fielding at slip when the incident unfolded. Karnataka was chasing 200 and was 3/0 after 2.2 overs when Mayank Agarwal edged a delivery to Manoj Singh but the wicket-keeper apparently grounded the ball. There was no conclusive evidence but the umpire decided not to go for the referral.

Kaif was furious and took his team out of the Jadavpur University 2nd Campus ground in Saltlake. The situation finally came to a control when the match referee intervened and ensured the match began again. Karnataka eventually won the game by three wickets to book a spot in the quarter-final. Karnataka also topped the group with Mayank Agarwal top scoring with 66. Jharkhand was the other team who qualified from Group D.

Kaif became an overnight hero around 15 years back, when he and Yuvraj Singh guided India to a famous win in the 2002 Natwest Trophy Final. He played a  brilliant unbeaten innings and along with Yuvi scripted one of the most dramatic victories in the history of limited overs cricket. Chasing a mammoth 326, India were tottering at 146/5 with all big names back in the hut. But what transpired next left everyone awestruck.

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The young duo of Kaif and Yuvraj scripted one of the greatest ever comebacks and guided India to a 2 wickets victory. He was an integral part of the Indian limited overs team during the mid-2000’s and remains arguably the greatest Indian fielder of all time.