Former Indian cricketer, Mohammad Kaif made a joke along with Yusuf Pathan, that they are available to play the upcoming season of the IPL. Both players were seen playing for the Indian Maharajas in the ongoing inaugural edition of Legends League Cricket (LLC). Pathan played a phenomenal knock of 80 runs of just 40 balls while Kaif amassed an unbeaten 42. Both the batters stitched a partnership of 117 runs for the fourth wicket after the team was reeling at 34/3 at one stage.
Batting first, Asia Lions posted a total of 175/7, owing to Upul Tharanga (66) and Misbah-ul-Haq (44*). For India, Manpreet Gony had scalped three wickets while Irfan Pathan scalped a couple, and Munaf Patel and Stuart Binny took one each. In reply, the Mohammad Kaif-led side had a poor start as they lost the wickets of Stuart Binny (10), Naman Ojha (20), and S. Badrinath (0) cheaply.
The fourth-wicket partnership between Kaif and Yusuf took the Maharajas over the line with five balls to spare. Irfan played a cameo of unbeaten 21 in 10 deliveries. Both the teams will face each other in the return fixture on January 24.
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After the win, Mohammad Kaif posted a picture of him alongside Yusuf and captioned it as, “IPL teams we are ready. DM before auction. Ek pe ek free wala option bhi hai ….” Kolkata Knight Riders were quick to come up with a funny response as they posted a GIF video which read “Bhai Wah” with a caption, “Offer toh zabardast hai! #IPLAuction.”
👀 Offer toh zabardast hai! #IPLAuction pic.twitter.com/z3ujZBwrf3
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) January 21, 2022
One of the other highlights of the game was the battle between former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar and ex-Indian batter Mohammad Kaif. The latter was one of the very few batters who dared to step out of the crease against Akhtar. He did the same in the LLC opening game as well. Like during their playing days, Akhtar didn’t appreciate Kaif’s approach this time around as well.
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Responding to the Indian batter’s tactics, Akhtar unleashed a brilliant bouncer which went past Kaif and the batter had no answer. After the game, recalling the incident, Shoaib Akhtar said, “He is walking towards me again. I just feel like punching him,” Akhtar said in the post-match interview as he breaks into laughter. I have told him [Kaif] many-a-times on television to not walk on him but he did it again.”
Things that never changed
2004 ↔️ 2022 @MohammadKaif walking towards @shoaib100mph 💥#Cricket #LegendsLeagueCricket pic.twitter.com/70E3ZfBJ7Z— Mustafa Abid (@mmustafa_abid) January 20, 2022
