{"id":256392,"date":"2026-08-06T06:50:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T06:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/06\/he-will-be-the-biggest-wicket-for-the-sri-lankan-bowlers-mohammad-kaif-names-indias-best-batter-ahead-of-sl-vs-ind-2026-tests\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T06:50:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T06:50:44","slug":"he-will-be-the-biggest-wicket-for-the-sri-lankan-bowlers-mohammad-kaif-names-indias-best-batter-ahead-of-sl-vs-ind-2026-tests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/06\/he-will-be-the-biggest-wicket-for-the-sri-lankan-bowlers-mohammad-kaif-names-indias-best-batter-ahead-of-sl-vs-ind-2026-tests\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cHe will be the biggest wicket for the Sri Lankan bowlers\u201d &#8211; Mohammad Kaif names India\u2019s best batter ahead of SL vs IND 2026 Tests"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5201027\" data-slug-id=\"2818481\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Former cricketer Mohammad Kaif has hailed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/shubman-gill\/news\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Shubman Gill<\/a> as the best batter in India\u2019s current Test lineup, while identifying him as a key wicket for Sri Lanka in the upcoming series. The opening game of the two-match series will begin on August 15 in Galle.<\/p>\n<p>While Gill is yet to feature in a Test against Sri Lanka, speaking during a discussion on his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Op21ckyxOd8&amp;t=869s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">YouTube channel (Mohammad Kaif)<\/a>, the 45-year-old lauded the Indian captain as the team\u2019s No. 1 batter following Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma\u2019s retirement from Test cricket. He said:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cSo, in this series as well, he (Shubman Gill) will be the biggest wicket for the Sri Lankan bowlers. Shubman Gill is the number one batter (In India\u2019s current Test lineup) because Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are no longer there.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>Mohammad Kaif further noted that<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/kl-rahul\/news\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\"> KL Rahul<\/a> has emerged as one of the senior players in the current setup and has shown positive signs with his average in recent times. However, he opined that Gill has gone well ahead of the Karnataka batter, saying:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cKL Rahul has become one of the senior players, and his form has improved to some extent as well. However, his average is still around 30. He went to England, and after that, he also started scoring runs. Even then, his average is around 34, so he hasn\u2019t made a huge jump. Shubman Gill, has made a significant jump. If we compare his batting with KL Rahul\u2019s, Gill has gone well ahead of him in terms of runs.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In 68 Tests, KL Rahul has scored 4,153 runs at an average of 36.42, with 20 fifties and 12 centuries. Meanwhile, Gill has amassed 2,969 runs in 41 games at an average of 44.31, with 11 centuries and eight fifties to his name.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>\u201cHas been setting records with the bat\u201d &#8211; Mohammad Kaif\u2019s huge praise for Shubman Gill<\/h2>\n<p>In the same video, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/mohammad-kaif\/news\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Mohammad Kaif<\/a> lauded Shubman Gill for his stunning performances since taking over as Test captain, stating:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cSince he became the Test captain, he has been setting records with the bat. I have no concerns about his batting. He went to England and scored around 900 runs overall, with back-to-back hundreds. He also became a player to score two centuries in a single match. So, he has done an outstanding job with the bat. His average was around 32, and now it has gone up to 44.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In nine games as captain, the right-hander has amassed 1,076 runs at an average of 82.76, including six centuries and one fifty.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Dev Sharma<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/cricket\/news-he-will-biggest-wicket-sri-lankan-bowlers-mohammad-kaif-names-india-s-best-batter-ahead-sl-vs-ind-2026-tests\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former cricketer Mohammad Kaif has hailed Shubman Gill as the best batter in India\u2019s current Test lineup, while identifying him as a key wicket for Sri Lanka in the upcoming series. The opening game of the two-match series will begin on August 15 in Galle. While Gill is yet to feature in a Test against [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":256393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-256392","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256392\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}