Khaleel Ahmed was fast-tracked into the Indian side as the management wanted to have a left-arm bowler in their stocks. However, the young seamer has not looked impressive despite getting enough chances at this level and continues to leak runs in crucial phases of the match. Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth believes that the left-armer needs to learn fast at this level as he looks a misfit at this level.
“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 on Sunday.
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Khaleel’s numbers in the shortest format is not impressive at all – his career economy rate in 13 T20Is reads 9.00, while it’s 5.81 in 11 ODIs.
Srikkanth also believes that India should make a few tweaks to the bowling department, especially when the senior bowlers have been rested.
“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 further wrote.
“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,” Srikkanth said.
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He also advocated for the inclusion of Kuldeep Yadav as he believes wrist spinners will have a massive impact on the proceedings, especially with the T20 World Cup being held in Australia next year.
“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. “The bigger boundaries and bounce in the wicket in Australia should make (Yuzvendra) Chahal and Kuldeep a deadly combination. The case of Kuldeep is curious, a matter of regaining confidence than anything else. And this series would have been ideal to give him some game time. At the same time, Rahul Chahar will also not be a bad choice but Kuldeep’s slightly better experience should weigh in his favour,” Srikkanth wrote in the column.
Source: HindustanTimes