RAJASTHAN :
Calcutta/Mumbai:
Rajasthan left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed is the only new face in the 16-member squad for the Asia Cup, which was picked in Mumbai on Saturday.
The 20-year-old has played only two first-class matches, but has more experience in List A and T20 cricket, having played 29 games across the two shorter formats. He was part of the India A limited-overs squad that toured England in June-July, and also played for India A in the recently concluded 50-over quadrangular series against South Africa A.
Rohit Sharma will lead the side while Shikhar Dhawan is the vice-captain.
Khaleel, who has taken 15 wickets in his last nine limited-overs matches for India A, had been on the selectors’ radar for a while.
Chief selector MSK Prasad said they had identified most of the squad for next year’s World Cup in England, apart from two or three slots, of which one was in the pace-bowling department.
“Two to three slots we are yet to finalise, so for those slots we are trying and we’ll look at these 24 matches (in the lead-up to the World Cup). You’ll come to know the slots more specifically as we go ahead … Among those, one of those seamers’ slot is open. We are looking at a left-arm option in Khaleel,” Prasad said at a media conference.
Khaleel also played in the IPL for Delhi DareDevils in 2016 and Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2017. While Delhi had bought him for just Rs 10 lakh at the auction, the Hyderabad franchise spent Rs 3.2 crore to get him in their ranks.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India / Home> Sports / by The Telegraph Bureau & Agencies / September 02nd, 2018