Khaleel Ahmed - Who is this recent call-up to the Indian squad?

When this name “Khaleel Ahmed” stood among the likes of Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan in the squad for the Asia Cup, it did not fail to drive a lot of cricket fans into a frenzy mode looking to find out who this guy is.

Ever since Zaheer Khan retired from all the formats of the game, India has been struggling to find a prominent Left-arm seamer. Jaydev Unadkat and Barinder Sran, though decent bowlers, their inconsistency has been a major factor that is keeping them out of the national squad. The search for an illustrious left-arm seamer still continues and the one who might satiate this could be Khaleel Ahmed.

Khaleel Khursheed Ahmed, which happens to be his full name was born on December 5, 1997, in the city of Tonk, Rajasthan. Having played in 17 List-A matches, he has been able to scalp 28 wickets, with the best bowling figure of 4/35. He has a pretty decent economy of 4.74 with the ball.

He made his List-A debut in a Vijay Hazare Trophy game earlier this year, in which his side was defeated by Andhra Pradesh with 30 balls to spare. The most intriguing thing about this 20-year-old is the pace at which he delivers the ball. In one of the matches during this year’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Khaleel bowled a delivery which was measured to be bowled at a speed of 148 kmph.

He was a part of the Delhi Daredevils team during the 2016 IPL season, where he was mentored by his idol Zaheer Khan himself. Khaleel has a similar bowling stride and delivery of the ball as that of Zaheer Khan.

For the 2018 auction, he had a base price of “20 Lakhs” and a heavy demand for the youngster instigated a bidding war between the franchises and Sunrisers Hyderabad secured the services of the left-arm bowler for a whopping price of 3 crores, 15 times his base price.

Khaleel having been roped into the SRH squad for a hefty price tag got to play only on the match, which came up against the Knight Riders in the second qualifiers game. He was expensive by giving away 38 runs in the 3 overs he bowled and unfortunately failed to pick a wicket. After a poor show in his debut, he was dropped from the squad for the final against the Chennai Super Kings.

Having failed to deliver in the only chance he had at the big stage of IPL, Khaleel returned to India A squad for the Quadrangular Series against India B, South Africa A, and Australia A and managed to victimize the batsmen 7 times in the 4 matches he featured, having a decent economy of 4.38.

He finished as the joint third highest wicket-taker of the tournament. Being a part of the India A for the Tri-series in England, Khaleel managed to pick up six wickets in three games, of which three came up against the England Lions in the final match of the tournament.

The selection committee must have made the decision of including the young pacer with the World Cup 2019 in the mind. “There are a two, three slots we are yet to confirm for the World Cup 2019, one among them is a left-handed seamer’s slot, where Khaleel might fit in,” said MSK Prasad, chairman of the selection committee.

If Khaleel Ahmed manages to make the best out of the opportunity given to him, we can see him don the blue jersey in England and Wales for the 12th edition of the ICC World Cup. Let us sit back and what this hot prospect from Rajasthan can do at the Asia Cup scheduled at the United Arab Emirates.