The young pacer of the Indian cricket team, Khaleel Ahmed, has lauded the guidance of his former captain for the national side, MS Dhoni, towards the start of his career. He shared a very memorable incident with the former wicketkeeper for the national side in New Zealand.
Khaleel Ahmed made his debut in the One-day international format during the Asia Cup 2018 against Hong Kong, after which he got the opportunity to play under the leadership of Dhoni during the game against Afghanistan in that competition, when their stand-in skipper, Rohit Sharma, missed out due to an injury.
The left-arm pacer hasn’t been a regular member of the Blue Brigade due to injuries, which has kept him out of action in domestic tournaments and T20 leagues. Despite making his debut in 2018, Khaleel Ahmed has been able to play just 11 ODI games and 18 T20Is.
“MS Dhoni isn’t my friend, but”- Khaleel Ahmed
One of the childhood dreams of the fast bowler was to open the bowling for the Indian team, as he used to follow the former left-arm pace bowler Zaheer Khan before getting to experience the same during the Asia Cup 2018.
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“Mahi bhai is not my friend, not my elder brother, he is my guru. Since my childhood, I wanted to become the bowler who took the first over from India since I had watched Zaheer Khan growing up.” Khaleel Ahmed expressed in a video, being in a conversation on YouTube with the former opening batter of the Indian team, Aakash Chopra. “In the Asia Cup, Mahi bhai asked me to bowl the first over. I ran so hard, away from the huddle thinking, that if I give it time, he might change his mind.”
The Rajasthan-born has picked up 15 wickets in 11 innings in the 50-over format, with an average of 31 and an economy of 5.81, with a best bowling figure of 3/13. His last game of the format came almost five years ago against West Indies at Port of Spain.
In the shortest format of the game, he has collected 16 scalps in 18 innings, at an average of 35.12 and an economy of 8.51. When it comes to the 20-over format, Khaleel Ahmed has grabbed 144 wickets in 114 innings, at an average of 25 and an economy of 8.37, with the best bowling figure of 5/18.
He shared the story behind one of the viral photos with Dhoni, where the Jharkhand batter was seen to offer him flowers. Ahmed revealed that the moment took place in New Zealand when one of the fans gave the flower to Dhoni.
“We were in New Zealand, Mahi bhai’s fans had given him flowers, he passed it onto me and some fans took a photo, it was quite memorable for me.” Khaleel Ahmed noted in the video.
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Because of the injury, the 26-year-old has been irregular in the first-class format, where he has featured in only 12 games in seven years, notching up 25 wickets at an average of 35. In his recent appearance for India in the T20I game at the Pallekele International Stadium in Kandy, the bowler was smashed around the park, going for 28 runs in three overs without any success.
He will hope to get an extended period in the blue colors and be part of the upcoming three-match T20I series at home against Bangladesh.