Cricket
Twitter was abuzz with rage after Khaleel Ahmed, the hero of the first ODI between India and Hong Kong in Dubai.
Updated : Sep 19, 2018, 05:08 PM IST
Twitter was abuzz with rage after Khaleel Ahmed, the hero of the first ODI between India and Hong Kong in Dubai.
Khaleel took three wickets under five runs, and impressed many with pace and bounce.
However, India opted to play Hardik Pandya, who in his last outing against Pakistan, scored a well-made 50 in the ICC Champions' Trophy final even as wickets constantly tumbled on the other end.
However, since then Pandya may have impressed, but his weaknesses have also been exposed. Khaleel Ahmed on the other hand is a new face, and Pakistan would have been surprised had India selected him. For a game like this, it would have been ideal if India had picked him, just for the surprise element and for the fact that Pandya's batting isn't as consistent as we'd like it to be.
People on Twitter didn't take too kindly to Ahmed's dropping.
Here's what people had to say.
Like the look of this Indian sides. Lots of options on both batting and bowling fronts. Wish they could have squeezed in Khaleel somehow in what is technically a dead rubber to see how he copes with the big stage.
— cricBC (@cricBC) September 19, 2018
#indvpak Why #KhaleelAhmed is not in the team? The guy played really well and much better than #BKumar. Unfair to the guy,
— Ankur Jhingan (@ankurysharma) September 19, 2018
What have you done captain Mr. Rohit Sharma. Why you missed khaleel Ahmed#INDvPAK
— IBAAD AHMAD (@RealIbad) September 19, 2018
Perfect team ! Bit disappointed for someone like Khaleel Ahmed who performed so well has to sit on the bench today sad
— Jatin (@Alias_jatin) September 19, 2018
India vs Pakistan #INDvsPAK surprise surprise... All the hype and excited went out of window no #KLRahul #KhaleelAhmed .. #Pak opt for bat
— rHarish (@im_RohitHarish) September 19, 2018
India vs Pakistan #INDvsPAK surprise surprise... All the hype and excited went out of window no #KLRahul #KhaleelAhmed .. #Pak opt for bat
— rHarish (@im_RohitHarish) September 19, 2018
Surprised to see that #KhaleelAhmed is nt the part of playing 11 even after bowling really well last night. Selection criteria of team managment is dissapointing. #INDvsPAK #AsiaCup2018
— Ritwik Tyagi (@imRitwik15) September 19, 2018
However, there are those who will also attributing Ahmed's axing to India's bench strength, which has been something to boast about at least in the shorter format of the game. There are several players waiting for a chance to prove they deserve to be part of the Playing XI, and this has made the competition healthy for the past few years.