Asia Cup 2018: Here’s All You Need To Gather About 20-year-old-left-arm-pacer Khaleel Ahmed who will be donning Indian Jersey for the very first time in Asia Cup

BCCI has recently named the 16 men army to guard the expectation of 135 crore Indians in Asia’s biggest cricket fest- The Asia Cup 2018. Spectators have lots of ifs and buts after witnessing sight of Indian team announced for the Asia Cup. The most reliable question is absence of Indian Skipper Virat Kohli and crediting Indian team’s leading responsibility to Rohit Sharma.

The other decision of the selection committee that garnished mixed-up response from the Indian Team supporters over social media is the inclusion of 20 years Old Khaleel Ahmed in the team’s line-up. Khaleel will mark his debut for the Asian superpower India in the Asia Cup scheduled to start from 15th September, 2018.

Khaleel Ahmed- The Surprise Package for Indian Bowling Line-Up

India has got few of the left arm fast bowlers in its list of bowling unit till date. Zaheer Khan along with Ashish Nehra are the few popular names who have positively sustained the pressure of Indian bowling attack during their venture. 20 Year Old Rajasthan Boy Khaleel will surely be the surprise element in the Indian team.

The Youngster although has played just one match in Indian Premier League till date, BCCI has named Khaleel’s inclusion for the prestigious Asia Cup to be played in UAE on account of his successful domestic route journey.

Khaleel was born on 5th of December, 1997 in the Tonk region of Rajasthan. Ahmed triggered his way to the front-line left-arm seamer at the senior category of the game in year 2017. The promising speedster has represented his state across all possible cricketing formats and earned an international face earlier this year’s edition of IPL. Khaleel was part of SRH (Sunrisers Hyderabad) but unfortunately was part of team final XI line up in just one match. Apart this fame, Khaleel has played his part as bowler for India ‘A’ team and showcased decent performance.

Bowler with speed and special mention of X Factor by very Special Cricketer

Zaheer Khan has applauds BCCI’s decision of trying out new face for the Asia Cup. As per the former successful Indian bowler, Khaleed is surely a bowler to watch out for. He will prove his positioning in the team as a front-line bowler and will develop as a match-winner under great Asian Cup challenge.

In the raw span of senior level cricketing featuring Khaleel has been noticed for his raw pace. The player has naturally evolved the pace while practicing most of his initial phase of cricketing career with tennis ball. He has also got the ability to bowl with the awkward angle that most professional left-handed bowler apply to hunt wickets without any extra effort.

Domestic Record of Khaleel Ahmed

Ahmed has grabbed total two First Class appearances for the home side Rajasthan so far. He played his first match in any recognized match against Jammu & Kashmir in the last year’s edition of Ranji Trophy.

The A list player has also skilled his bowling in 17 List-A and 12 T20 matches, Khaleel has grabbed 4 scalps each in both of the formats.

The Crucial Match that turned BCCI Attention towards the ‘Young Gem’

Ahmed figured out to list in the BCCI’s priority list of bowlers after showcasing great set of performances during India A tour of England and framing 3 wickets haul show in the Triangular series final against England Lions.

In the recently folded up Qudrangular series that featured young talents from South Africa, Australia and India B team. Khaleel splendidly finished as the third best bowler of the series with seven wickets count, average 17 and economy of 4.38. Including a three wickets haul.

The Stage of Indian Premier League

Khaleel Ahmder marked his debut in the stage setting platform for the youngsters the IPL in year 2016. Delhi Daredevils bids the young bowler for the base price of Rs 10 lakh during that time. Unfortunately none of the chances formed for him to play even a single match during that time but the bowler continued his training under mentor Rahul Dravid who have helped him a lot to evolve as a front-line bowler.

Two years later luck totally changed for the young boy as SRH deliberately trying to win the bid for Ahmed services finally got him in their team with 3 crore whopping price. He played just one match in the whole season and expended 38 runs in just 3 over spell without any wicket.

Some of the great performances from Khaleel Ahmed in his short cricketing career

• Khaleel debuted Senior category of Cricket while playing for Rajasthan side team in 2016-17 Inter State Twenty-20 Tournament.
• In year 2016 he also featured for the Indian side in the U 19 World Cup team.
• Khaleel marked List A debut for Rajasthan in 2017-18 Vijay Hazare trophy.
• Recently Khaleel has been included in the Asia Cup line-up for India and all the Indian spectators including us are expecting great performance from the young left-handed bowler.