Khaleel Ahmed, the left-arm fast pacer from Rajasthan, has been criticized by the Indian audience for conceding 7 consecutive boundaries in the T20I series against Bangladesh.
Since Zaheer Khan left the scene in 2015, India has been searching for a left-arm pacer for a long time; and former India skipper Kris Srikkanth suggests it may extend incumbent Khaleel Ahmed’s tenure.
On Sunday “Frankly Khaleel Ahmed looks a misfit at this level. There is always scope for improvement, but he has to learn fast,” Srikkanth wrote in his column for The Times of India.
In the first T20I, Khaleel Ahmed’s figures were 37/1. In the 2nd T20I, he conceded 44 runs and took one wicket his four-over spell. His career economy rate in 13 T20Is stands at an expensive 9.00, while it’s 5.81 in 11 ODIs.
The former India opener also wrote, “Barring the solitary change at the top, the T20 batting department looks fairly set for Virat Kohli. The bowling resources, however, need some tweaking, especially when the team management feels it’s important to rest the senior bowlers from this format.”
He added, “Deepak Chahar looks a different bowler when there is atmospheric help, but in countries like Australia and South Africa, he might find it tough, as the ball does not dart around too much. If he can add a couple of more variations, he could well be the front-runner to fill that one slot.”
The T20 World Cup will be played in Australia next year. Srikkanth feels, “The big prize is, of course, the (T20) World Cup and I’m sure the plan is to work towards that. In my opinion, wrist spinners are going to play a pivotal role and it is high time Kuldeep Yadav is back in the mix.”
