India vs West Indies: Young Khaleel Ahmed reminds Twitter of Wasim Akram and Zaheer Khan
Young Khaleel Ahmed finished with his best ODI figures of 3/13 in five overs as India thrashed the West Indies by a massive 224 runs in the fourth ODI at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Monday.
Coming to bowl in the 10th over with West Indies already struggling at 43/3, the 20-year-old needed just three deliveries to trap the in-form Shimron Hetmyer for just 13 balls. Swinging the ball both ways, Khaleel could have dismissed the left-hander in his very first ball, but the edge didn’t carry.
The third ball of the over angled back at the batsman hitting his pads plumb in front of the wicket and even a review couldn’t save Hetmyer. An over later he got his second wicket again in the third ball of his second over. Rovman Powell was the man dismissed after sliding an off-ball into his stumps.
Khaleel troubled the batsman both in and out and the very next ball came close to getting Jason Holder. Such the rhythm of his bowling that the India players were appealing for a wicket in almost every ball.
His final wicket came in the very next over when he tempted Marlon Samuels into playing a full ball, which kissed the bat’s edge straight into Rohit Sharma’s hands at first slip. The wicket came in the fourth ball of his third over and at the completion of it, Khaleel had given away just eight runs for three wickets in as many overs.
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He bowled two more overs and despite not taking any wickets kept on troubling the batsman.
Such impressive was the bowling of the youngster that many Twitter users were reminded of Sultan of swing Wasim Akram of Pakistan. Akram was also a left-handed fast bowler and could trouble batsman both ways. He was destructive during his playing days and is considered to be among the greatest fast bowlers ever in cricket history.
Khaleel Ahmed reminds me of my young days – Wasim Akram#SorryIfLateToThis #INDvWI
— Nikhil ? (@CricCrazyNIKS) October 29, 2018
Khaleel Ahmed on fire ???
Windies reduced to 56/6 in 13.4 overs #INDvWI pic.twitter.com/RIGE2H95bG
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 29, 2018
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Good win for India. Rohit was a treat to watch , so was Rayudu and good effort from the bowlers. Khaleel Ahmed was very clever today. Now Thiruvanathpuram with the series open #IndvWI
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) October 29, 2018
” Well done Khaleel Ahmed! You remind me of my younger days ” ~ Wasim Akram on Geo TV #INDvWI
— JSK (@imjsk27) October 29, 2018
Khaleel Ahmed has been more impressive today than at any other time I have seen him because he is swinging the ball back into the right hander. Makes a huge difference to the way a batsman approaches the bowler when there is swing
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 29, 2018
Khaleel Ahmed is next zaheer Khan .. Fantastic bowling performance by this young pacer ..Well done.. ?? #INDvWI
— Imran khan (@imkhan5csn) October 29, 2018
Khaleel Ahmed is a very promising prospect, but i won’t jump to conclusions this early.
— Arjun Sharma (@LifeIsAnElation) October 29, 2018
Khaleel Ahmed brought the ball back in at searing pace.
Good decision from the management to stick with him.
Not many bowlers have this ability. If Khaleel continues to bowl the way he bowled tonight, he’ll certainly be in India’s scheme of things for the WC#INDvWI
— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) October 29, 2018
Really excited with Khaleel Ahmed as a seam alternative. He is left handed, bowls full, swings ball both ways. Good basic action & likeable youthful exuberance. ????.
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) October 29, 2018
A good all-round performance today by India. Khaleel Ahmed was brilliant in that spell and being a left-armer can become the third seamer for the world cup. Rayudu at 4 and Khaleel as third seamer might be few of the gaps that are needed to be filled #IndvWI
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) October 29, 2018
#4thODI congratulations india after two impressive batting performance whats a delivery of khaleel ahmed he is new talent india found 3 wicked fantastic @khaleelahmed222 #INDvWI
— Mohammed Siraj (@mdsiraj71) October 29, 2018
Khaleel Ahmed to West Indies #INDvWI #INDvsWI pic.twitter.com/NphYVVLXqP
— ?? (@gtweets16) October 29, 2018
Is that Khaleel Ahmed or @IrfanPathan?
— Madhav Sharma (@HashTagCricket) October 29, 2018
Sensational stuff from Khaleel Ahmed ?
At one stage thought if Zaheer Khan is bowling again ?#INDvWI #INDvsWI pic.twitter.com/4pls5unPRY
— ℓαℓυ vιηυ (@manthenalalu) October 29, 2018
“We Prepared For Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed Came From Out Of Syllabus”- Jason Holder ?? #INDvWI #INDvsWI #RohitSharma #KhaleelAhmed Khaleel Ahmed pic.twitter.com/dOMs1zN9Sh
— Sir Jadeja (@SirrrJadeja) October 29, 2018
Khaleel Ahmed booking his tickets to England next year.?? #INDvsWI #WC2019@ICC @BCCI @imVkohli @ImRo45
— Anonymous (@NarvekarNihal) October 29, 2018
Image Source: Twitter