Asia Cup 2018: Skipper Rohit Sharma excited about Khaleel Ahmed

After a long Test series, India are back to the ODI mould and on the eve of their opening game in Asia Cup 2018 against qualifiers Hong Kong, the defending champions are busy fixing their order. Stand-in captain Rohit Sharma spoke on the probable players his team could feature in this campaign and particularly stressed on youngster Khaleel Ahmed who got his maiden India call-up.

Ahmed, a left-arm medium bowler, was seen bowling in the nets with full intensity along with Shardul Thakur while the seasoned Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled less and that hinted at the Men in Blue fielding a debutant in their opening campaign.

Ahmed though has played just two first-class and 17 List A games since his debut in 2017, he excelled with the ball for India ‘A’ in England taking eight wickets from five games. He also took seven wickets in four matches for India ‘A’ in a quadrangular series played at home thereafter. The bowler has been in news for some time for his pace and hard lengths and could soon taste international cricket.

Rohit Sharma looking forward to playing Ahmed

“I am quite excited about Khaleel. Of course, he’s a great variation to the squad. Also, he generates quite a bit of pace. He’s young, quite talented, and can swing the ball as well at the same time. I am looking forward to him playing and doing well for the country,” Sharma was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

From whatever I’ve seen of him, he can get batsmen into trouble. I can surely say that. He’s got a great skillset, it’s just a matter of going out there and doing it. Of course, he has not played a game so he’ll be quite nervous but again he’s got all the tools that are required to play at the highest level,” he added.

Ahmed has 28 wickets in 17 List A matches at an average of 22.50 and two wickets in as many first-class games at an average of 90.

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