Khaleel Ahmed made his debut for India on Tuesday.
20-year-old Khaleel Ahmed made his debut for India on Tuesday. Ahmed received his debut ODI cap from Rohit Sharma ahead of India's match against Hong Kong.
The youngster from Tonk in Rajasthan is the 222nd player to represent India in one-day internationals.
Ahmed is latest of a bunch of young players who have knocking at the doors of Team India and now have been given a chance to prove themselves. While he may not be as famous as some of the other in the bunch - like Prithvi Shaw or Shreyas Iyer - but his success could be a very important for the structure of the team heading into the 2019 World Cup.
Ahmed is Indian cricket’s latest prospect for filling the spot of a left-seamer in the ODI team. India have not had a top quality left handed bowler in the side since Zaheer Khan.
The likes of Jaydev Unadkat and Barinder Sran have shown glimpses of talent but failed to make the mark.
Now India will be looking to Ahmed to fill the void.
The Next Zaheer?
The 20-year-old left-arm seamer, who grew up playing tennis ball cricket, has already said that he eager to emulate his idol- Zaheer Khan. During his time with IPL team Delhi Daredevils, he has had a chance to learn from then captain Zaheer on his bowling and wrist position.
The Indian legend has already praised the young bowler and believes that he is the one to watch out for.
“He’s a bowler to watch out for. I did work with him closely. He’s a very promising talent but needs to keep working hard. He has the ingredients to develop into a match-winner. It’s now up to him how much he can push himself. There’s no doubt he has the potential but will need to keep learning as he climbs the ladder. Fast bowling is very hard work and I’ve told him so,” Zaheer was quoted as saying by sportstarlive.com.
Impressive Record
Playing for India A, Khaleel was the fourth-highest wicket-taker across all teams in the recently concluded Quadrangular series in Bengaluru, picking up seven wickets from four games.
Ahmed clocked 148 kmph in the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy this season. In the ten T20 matches he played, the young bowler took 17 wickets at an economy rate of 6.76, including a 2/23 against champions Delhi in the final.
In the six 50-over matches he played during the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Khaleel picked up 10 wickets with an economy rate of 4.77.
Khaleel has taken 28 wickets in the 17 List A matches he has played. He was also part of the U19 World Cup side in 2016.
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