Papa Kaif breaks TV jinx

LUCKNOW: On Saturday night when Mohammad Tariq talked to his son and Indian cricket''s crisis hero Md Kaif, he said his fears were over and from now onwards he would watch all of his son''s matches on television.
Tariq was superstitious about watching Kaif play. He felt that whenever he saw him playing on the small screen, his son did not fare well. That''s the reason he didn''t watch his son''s moment of glory in the NatWest Trophy final against England, on July 13 at Lord''s.Rather, he had gone to see the movie Devdaas!
Saturday''s opening match for India in the ICC Champions Trophy in Colombo wasn''t much different as far as the script goes for the Indian team. As has been their wont, they were in trouble quite soon. But, Tariq wasn''t in any predicament, he didn''t want to miss his son play the big league, and saw the full match. It was as if Kaif knew about it and did his best not to disappoint daddy. He went on to haul India out of trouble along with Rahul Dravid. In the process the Allahabad youngster posted his first One-day international century in 19 matches and set up another thrilling Indian victory to earn his back-to-back man of the match award.
After the match when Kaif returned to his hotel, he called up his father and requested him to continue to watch his matches. "Don''t worry now, and don''t stay away from the TV when I am playing. I have your blessings and I will not let you down, he said to me," revealed Tariq to Times News Network.
"I am proud that my son rescued India and scored the century. I wished him good luck for the rest of the tournament," Tariq added.
Tariq candidly admitted that he had not expected Kaif to get his first One-day century in the match. "I was praying when he came on to bat that Kaif manages to do just what his team needs and he came through for his country."