One-day specialist Mohammad Kaif, back from England with a first-class average of just 22 for Derbyshire in county matches, is not giving up hope of making an early return to Test cricket.
An important member of the Indian one-day team after a string of match-winning performances last year, Kaif has played only four Tests and none since failing in a series in Sri Lanka as a 20-year-old in 2001.
"Of course I'm looking forward to getting into the Test side again but I know before that I need to get some big runs," Kaif told reporters on Wednesday during an India training camp.
"On the Sri Lanka tour, I was very young. I made a lot of mistakes but I came back, went into the nets and tried to change. I'm a much better player now."
Kaif, who had been hoping to impress India's selectors for a Test berth with some big scores in England, made just 332 runs in 15 innings with only one half-century.
But in the one-day tournaments, the middle-order batsman blossomed with 378 runs in 10 matches at an average of 42.
Kaif will get another chance to make his mark in a domestic one-day tournament later this month and then in a five-day match between national champions Bombay and a Rest of India team.
India play a two-Test series against New Zealand starting in Ahmedabad on October 8, followed by a one-day triangular series, also involving world champions Australia.
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