Mohammad Kaif appointed captain of debutants Chhattisgarh

Mohammad Kaif, the former India batsman, has been appointed as captain of Chhattisgarh for their debut Ranji season in 2016-17. Sulakshan Kulkarni, previously at the helm at Mumbai, was also unveiled as head coach at a press conference in Raipur on Monday (July 18).


Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh, formerly an associate member of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), was elevated to full membership in February this year and will be the tenth team in Group C during India's premier domestic tournament.
Kaif, who represented India in 13 Tests and 125 One-Day Internationals (ODI), made his first-class debut back in 1997-98 and turned up for Uttar Pradesh for more than a decade, before moving to Andhra in 2014. The wiry-framed cricketer spent only six years in the international circuit but has respectable first-class figures - with 9974 runs in 177 fixtures at an average of just under 40 with 19 centuries and 58 fifties.