IPL 2019: SRH captain Kane Williamson heaps praises on Khaleel Ahmed

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s IPL 2019 journey came to an end after they lost the Eliminator match to Delhi Capitals at Vizag on May 8, 2019. Before that SRH became the first team to qualify for the playoffs with just 12 points on the IPL points table and only lost to DC in the last over defending 163 runs.

SRH were hurt badly by the return of their opening duo of Warner and Bairstow back home and their famed bowling lineup not producing results. Siddharth Kaul and Sandeep Sharma failed to recreate the magic of IPL 2018, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, though he picked wickets and was economical, gave runs in heaps in some of the matches. Therefore, when Khaleel Ahmed was fit enough to play, he was drafted in the team and changed the look of the bowling attack.

Kane Williamson lauds Khaleel Ahmed and his bowling form

Khaleel Ahmed, who narrowly missed out on a spot in the Indian 2019 World Cup squad after poor returns against Australia, picked 19 wickets in 9 games for SRH at an economy of 8.23 and the best bowling figures of 3/30. Ahmed also bought that air of aggression in the bowling lineup of Hyderabad team, which was appreciated by skipper Kane Williamson.

“Khaleel has been outstanding in his ability to pick up wickets in the powerplay and through the middle when we have brought him back. He’s been a real threat for us this season when he’s had his opportunities. And he showed that again today, picking up two wickets in that (11th) over which changed momentum quickly,” Williamson was quoted as saying by India Today.

Even in the Eliminator match against Delhi Capitals the other day, Khaleel took the wickets of Shreyas Iyer and Prithvi Shaw, who had completed his fifty and was looking ominous in the 11^th over of the innings, and brought his team back into the game. A miscalculation from skipper Kane Williamson cost SRH the match, as he gave the ball to Basil Thampi in the 18^th over instead of Khaleel, and Rishabh Pant carted him for 22 runs, effectively ending Hyderabad’s hopes of making it into the second qualifier.

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