Khaleel Ahmed Wiki, Age, Height, Family, Cricket, Biography & More
Khaleel Ahmed is an Indian cricketer.
NEW DELHI: Two days shy of his 21st birthday, things seem to be happening fast for pace bowler Khaleel Ahmed. Ask the cricketer himself, though, and he makes it feel as if it has taken him a lifetime to make it to the Indian team.
Rajasthan’s left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed has said that he is aiming to make a comeback to the Indian team by performing impressively in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 tournament, where he is playing for the Delhi Capitals (DC).
Khaleel had made his India debut in 2018 and has played 11 ODIs, picking 15 wickets, and 14 T20I matches, taking 13 wickets. His economy in ODIs has been 5.81, while in T20Is, Khaleel has given away runs at a high economy of 8.82.
Meanwhile, currently, he is turning out for the Delhi Capitals in his second stint with the Delhi-based franchise, having made his debut with Delhi Capitals (formerly Delhi Daredevils) where he spent two seasons but didn’t get to play a single game.
He then played four seasons for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), featuring in 24 matches and bagging 32 wickets. His best IPL outing was the 2019 edition, in which he played 9 games and claimed 19 wickets. He was bought by DC in the IPL 2022 mega auction for Rs. 5.25 crore and returned figures of 2-27 in 4 overs in the first match for DC against Mumbai Indians in IPL 2022.
Khaleel Ahmed last played for India in the white-ball format in 2018 and with the national team missing out on the left-arm seam bowling option, he fancies his chances of returning to the Men in Blue side and aims to do so by performing in the ongoing IPL 2022 edition for DC.
“I have worked a lot on my bowling – both in red and white-ball cricket. I am in better shape now. I am a much better bowler now. I am bowling 140 km plus consistently. I have worked a lot on swing bowling. I think I can serve India for 10-12 years and I am raring to go. I know where I stand. I am prepared. You will see a different Khaleel this time in the IPL and for India in the future,” he said in an interview with Times of India.
Khaleel Ahmed is not quite accustomed to facing the press and it was quite apparent when the young pacer attended the post-match press conference after the second T20I match between India and New Zealand in Auckland on Friday. He had to face a number of questions from the journalists but one left him stumped.
When asked whether the team was missing Kohli who is presently on a vacation, Khaleel looked quite confused at first, and then, he burst into laughter before recovering to say “Don’t ask... Next question please.”
Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant batted beautifully after good bowling shows from Krunal Pandya and Khaleel Ahmed as India defeated New Zealand by seven wickets to level the series 1-1. It was a good show by the Indian bowlers and Khaleel Ahmed took two late wickets to ensure New Zealand fell short of an adequate total.
“Because the ground was small, we deliberately bowled back of length to curtail boundaries. We had to shorten the length as conventional swing was not on offer. We showed a lot of improvement today and hope to improve further in the next game,” Khaleel said when asked about his game plan against the New Zealand batsmen.
The youngster also spoke about the inputs given by skipper Rohit Sharma as the Eden Park ground has different dimensions and the angles are not like other grounds. “Rohit Bhai told us about which are the areas batsmen will target and how to cut the angles,” he added.
Khaleel Ahmed seemed nervous when he arrived at the mandatory post-match press conference after Team India's convincing seven-wicket win against New Zealand in Auckland on Friday. For a cricketer who has played only 16 matches for his country across formats, it seems fairly natural. However, he was able to answer most questions pertaining to the match barring a Virat Kohli bouncer that left him flummoxed.
Khaleel bounced back at Eden Park to take two wickets in his figure of 2 for 27 after his wicketless match in the first T20I where he conceded 48 runs. His impressive figure played a crucial role in restricting the New Zealand side to 158 runs. After the match, he was sent for the press conference where he was asked about the swing in the pitch, the team's plan, and their Hamilton thoughts.
But amid those came a bouncer when one of the reporters asked him whether the team was missing Kohli who is presently on a vacation from all the cricketing actions. Left completely perplexed by the question, he burst into laughter and hid his face in his palm before recovering to say "Don't ask... Next question please."
Delhi Capitals (DC) pacer Khaleel Ahmed will not be taking part in DC’s game against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Thursday due to an injury, DC captain Rishabh Pant confirmed at the toss.
Khaleel pulled his hamstring during DC’s previous game against Rajasthan Royals (RR). He had figures of 1/47 in four overs in the game where Jos Buttler smashed his 3rd century of the IPL 2022 season.
It’s in this manner that the lanky left-arm seamer, a free-spirited character from Tonk, Rajasthan, who loves his movies, narrates his life’s story. And all along you feel you’ve heard it before. A deja vu (which if you see isn’t too far from repetition). A kid possessed by cricket, a disapproving father, a sympathetic coach, and eventual success in the form of selection to the Indian team. In fact, everything about Khaleel’s tale is so uncannily similar to the 2005 Bollywood hit ‘Iqbal’ that you might be tempted to call it — to use a Khaleelism — ‘Iqbal’.
In this fable, our hero’s father Khursheed, a nurse in a village near Tonk who barely made both ends meet, used to dream that his son would one day become a doctor. The kid, however, paid little attention to his studies. He would be watching cricket on TV when he wasn’t playing it.
“Jab Unhe Pata Chalta, Abu Peet-Veet Diya Karte the (he would beat me up when he would find out that was playing),” Khaleel says. “On Fridays in summer, we used to have matches after the afternoon namaz. It used to be baking hot. And my parents would prohibit me from going out, but I would sneak out.” Naturally, a sound thrashing would be waiting for him at home on those evenings.
The reminiscence is bereft of any bitterness. Khaleel actually talks about it fondly. His father, Khursheed, too, isn’t apologetic about the beatings. He, in fact, betrays faint pride as he cites them as an example of his son’s “Junoon”.
“When my friends or acquaintances used to come home, they would ask ‘where is Khaleel’. And I would get suspicious. Why are they asking, has he done something, I would think. But they would say he bowled well in this or that match the other day,” Khursheed says. “I would think he ought to have been in school when he was playing those games!
“Humne use samjhaya ke cricket chhod do, pitayi bhi ki kai baar. Par Uska Junoon din-b-din Badhta Gaya (I told him many times to quit playing cricket. But even thrashings didn’t deter him from that).”
Kahin Ladka Haath sees a Nikal Jaaye,’ which is a common fear that grips India’s middle/lower-middle-class parents. Then, on one fine day six years ago, Khaleel, 12, ‘got out of hand’. Without informing his parents, he joined a cricket academy.
“Batting-vatting mein interest nahi tha mera. Batsman ko out-vout karne mein zyada maza aata tha. (Batting didn’t interest me much. It was more fun to bowl and dismiss batsmen.) Sometimes I used to copy Irfan’s action, sometime Zaheer’s… Then one day I saw this academy. Ladke kit-Vit pecan Ke Khel Rahe the (there were boys dressed in the white kit). I was wearing pants, Na Kuchh supporter-vaporiser (no jockstrap). I walked up to the coach and told him, ‘sir hame Khelna hai’. But it was a school’s academy. Bahar Ke log allowed Nahi the (Outsiders weren’t allowed).”
Tonk, however, is a small town. Everyone knows everyone. The coach, Imtiyaz Khan, knew the Ahmeds. “Trial-viral le Ke our Baat-vast Kar Ke Unhone Mujhe join kara Diya (There was a trial and he spoke to some higher-ups in the school, and I was in).”
It wasn’t ‘gully’ cricket anymore. It was serious stuff and required undivided attention. Even the semblance of pretension of studying had to be dropped. The news had to be broken to Khursheed. Khaleel explained his predicament to the coach, who had a word with his father.
“Ghar Mein akela Ladka that, Baki teen Behne Hain Uski (He was the lone boy among four siblings). So, they would expect he would study and also do errands. Bas is Liye Ghar me Maara-Peeti Hoti this (hence the trouble with his father). When he discussed it with me, I went to his father. I told Khursheed that Khaleel is a special talent. That he is hardworking and passionate. I told him that if not twice a day, then let him come at least once daily,” says Imtiyaz.
Khursheed relented. “I asked Khaleel one final time Ke Padhna hai ya Khelna hai (do you want to study sincerely or play?). He said ke khelna hai. I said alright,” says Ahmed senior. A doctor Khaleel wouldn’t be. One dream surely wouldn’t realize. “Mainey Socha Chalo Aage Chalke Lisey Arts Dilwale dengue, so that he can at least pass his exams.”
At an age, then, when he ought to have been aspiring to go two hours south to the coaching academies of Kota, Khaleel was ready to pack his bags and head two hours north to the Rajasthan Cricket Academy in Jaipur. “I sent him to Tarak Sinha sir, who was the director of the RCA,” says Imtiyaz.”He was reluctant initially, but on my recommendation and after a trial, he took him into the under-14 camp.”
When Khaleel joined the Rajasthan under-14 camp, the under-19 team was preparing for a tournament. The kid was picked to bowl in the nets to players much senior to him. “Unko Mainey Chipkayi do-teen bouncer-bouncer. Us age Mein Bhi Mainey stump-stump tode the (I sent down two-three bouncers. Even at that age, I smashed stumps),” the bowler says.
In the under-14 Raj Singh Dungarpur Trophy, he took 26 wickets in four matches. Later, he was selected for a camp at the BCCI Specialist Academy in Mohali. “Wahan Mainey Mandeep Singh ko bowled mara, our Manan Vohra Ke helmet-velvet pe maar (There I clean bowled Mandeep Singh and hit Manan Vohra on the helmet),” he says.
Khaleel’s penchant to target heads and break stumps is a happy consequence of the hardships of Tonk, which have pushed him to crank up the pace. “We hardly had any facilities in Tonk. Had to bowl on cemented wickets. You have to hit the ball hard. Aap ball ko khaali chhod-vod nahi sakte (You can’t just rely on the release). It won’t do anything. So you have to be fast to beat the batsman.”
His lean frame deceives the batsman, who doesn’t expect the six-foot-one but frail bowler to generate a pace northwards of 135 kph. “He has a very effective inswinger, but I have told him to constantly work on his pace,” says the coach. “I believe swing is useless if you don’t have pace.”
On a characteristically unresponsive Mirpur pitch, where India plays their group stage matches, that extra yard of pace through the air should keep Khaleel and his new-ball partner Avesh Khan, who has clocked 140 in the past, interested.
It helps that the pacer is in good form. In the last five matches, he has taken 13 wickets, bowling India to victory with a three-for in the final of the Under-19 tri-series in Sri Lanka in December. It came on the back of a four-wicket haul in his previous outing against the same opponents. The twin performances pretty much sealed his spot in the World Cup squad, which was announced a day after the final.
When the news broke, Tonk erupted. “For this town, he is now a source of inspiration. Parents here have woken to the fact that sport is also something where their children can look to make a career. Now whoever comes to me with their son, they ask ‘India Khila doge kya’,” says Imtiyaz. And is the father happy now? “Of course, he is. He is being interviewed extensively now by print and electronic media.”
Indeed, Khursheed is elated, but it hasn’t yet brought a complete closure between the father and son duo. For Ahmed senior, there is one thing left to be done: To watch Khaleel play in person.
“I have never seen Khaleel play. Last year, I went to Jaipur, where he was playing. When he was about to come on the field, he spotted me. He came running towards me and told me to leave. He said he won’t play if I stuck around. When I asked why, he said, ‘Abhi time Nahi Aaya hai. Time tab Aayega jab main India Ke Liye Khelunga (You come and watch me when I play for India),’” Khursheed says.
Bengaluru: India pacer Chetan Sakariya was picked up by Delhi Capitals for Rs 4.2 crore on Day 2 of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction on Sunday. India pacer Ishant Sharma did not find any takers and he went unsold while left-arm seamer Khaleel Ahmed was picked by Delhi Capitals for Rs 5.25 crore.
Sri Lanka fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera was acquired by Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 2 crore. Proteas pacer Lungi Ngidi went unsold as he did not find any bidders. Medium-pacer Sandeep Sharma was picked up by Punjab Kings for his base price of Rs 50 lakh.
India fast bowler Navdeep Saini was acquired by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 2.6 crore. Sheldon Cottrell and Nathan Coulter-Nile went unsold while India pacer Jaydev Unadkat was acquired by Mumbai Indians for Rs 1.3 crore. West Indies all-rounder Odean Smith was picked up by Punjab Kings for Rs 6 crore while Proteas pacer Marco Jansen was acquired by SunRisers Hyderabad for Rs 4.2 crore.
India all-rounder Shivam Dube was picked up by Chennai Super Kings for Rs 4 crore. India off-spinner K Gowtham was picked up by Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 90 lakh. Earlier, England all-rounder Liam Livingstone on Sunday was picked by Punjab Kings for Rs 11.50 crore.
Meanwhile, India batter Cheteshwar Pujara, England skipper Eoin Morgan. Australia skipper Aaron Finch went unsold in the first round of bidding.
Day 2 of the mega auction began with teams bidding for South African batter Aiden Markram. The right-handed batter was sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for Rs 2.6 crore.
Also, India batter Mandeep Singh was bought by Delhi Capitals for Rs 1.1 crore. Day 1 of the IPL 2022 mega auction saw Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, and Deepak Chahar being among the top picks. Kishan was picked by Mumbai Indians for Rs 15.25 crore, while Chahar was sold to Chennai Super Kings for Rs 14 crore.
Kolkata Knight Riders bought Iyer for Rs 12.25 crore and on the other hand, Avesh Khan became the most expensive pick among the uncapped players after being bought for Rs 10 crore by Lucknow Super Giants.
Khaleel Ahmed has a healthy physique and he is 6 feet 1 inch (185 cm) tall. Describing more about body fitness his weight is around 80 Kg (176 lbs). Khaleel Ahmed always keeps himself fit and he is very health Conscious. His chest measurement is 42 Inches, Waist is approx. 32 Inches & biceps measurement is 14 Inches. He has a nice hairstyle and got black hair and Dark Brown Eyes.
Following the footsteps of his teammates Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar, Khaleel Ahmed has become another player from the class of 2016 (ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup 2016 in Bangladesh) to be selected for the Indian team. The 20-year-old left-arm fast bowler has gradually made his way to the rub shoulders with the best in the business.
To reach his destination at the highest level, Ahmed has followed a prototypical path that has made him travel from strength to strength right from his childhood. Born in Tonk, Rajasthan, Ahmed’s first introduction to cricket was with the tennis ball. As is the trend in this genre of cricket, watching the batsmen come at him motivated Ahmed to beat them with his outright pace.
Ahmed’s transition happened from local cricket to representing India at the U-19 level to playing for Rajasthan. He followed it by playing in the IPL and for India A. Eventually, post his consistent show across these platforms, he has now been named in a team where each player of the country wishes to be.
U-19 World Cup figures of 40.3-10-189-3 might not seem to be highly impressive but the fact that he bowled with control throughout the tourney and didn’t leak runs added merit to his name.
Others might argue about Ahmed not having enough First-class experiences but it is not the format for which he has been selected. Something which has contributed to him being selected at the highest level is his List A record. In 17 List A appearances, Ahmed has registered 28 dismissals at an average of 22.50, an economy rate of 4.74, and a strike rate of 28.4. The numbers clearly identify the fact that Ahmed has it in him to affect dismissals. His spree of being wicket-less in the last nine matches for India A (against England Lions and in the recently-concluded quadrangular series) is the testimony of the same.
MSK Prasad, the chief selector of the Indian team, spoke about the inclusion of Ahmed in the squad. “Two to three slots we are yet to finalize, so for those slots we are trying and we’ll look at these 24 matches [for the World Cup]. You’ll come to know the slots more specifically as we go ahead … Among those, one of those seamers’ slots is open. We are looking at a left-arm option in Khaleel”, he said.
Ahmed was initially roped in to the Delhi Daredevils squad in 2016. Having spent two years at the franchise, he didn’t get to play a single match. However, sharing the dressing room with Zaheer Khan reaped numerous benefits for the then-teenager.
In an interview with ESPNcricinfo during the quadrangular series last week, Ahmed talked about the learning curve from India’s most successful left-arm bowler. “Being under Zaheer coincided with my improvement as a cricketer. I used to just look to bowl fast and didn’t think much about the technicalities, but Zaheer worked on my non-bowling arm and wrist position. The seam position used to be wobbly because there was some problem with my grip and alignment with my thumb. Now I can swing the ball back into the right-handers,” said Ahmed.
| Real Name | Syed Khaleel Khursheed Ahmed |
| Nickname | Khaleel |
| Profession | Cricketer (Bowler) |
| Debut | Twenty20-5 February 2017, ODI-18 September 2018 |
| Jersey Number | #13 (India)
#313 (Domestic) |
| Domestic/State Team | Rajasthan, Delhi Daredevils, Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| Batting Style | Right-Hand Bat |
| Bowling Style | Left-Hand Bowl |
| Language Known | Hindi & English |
| Date Of Birth |
5 December 1997
|
| Age (as in 2020) | 22 Years |
| Birthplace | Tonk, Rajasthan, India |
| Hometown | Tonk, Rajasthan, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Star Sign/ Zodiac Sign | Sagittarius |
| Height in Centimetres | 185 cm |
| Height In Meters | 1.85 m |
| Height in Inches | 6’1″ |
| Weight in Kilograms | 80 Kg |
| Weight in Pounds | 176 lbs |
| Body Measurement (approx) | Chest-42
Waist-32 Biceps-14 |
| Eye Color | Dark Brown |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Father | Khursheed Ahmed |
| Mother | Not Known |
| Sister | Not Known |
| Brother | N/A |
| Religion | Islam |
| Educational Qualification | Graduate |
| School | Not Known |
| Collage/University | Janardan Rai Nagar Rajasthan Vidyapeeth University, Udaipur, Rajasthan |
| Favorite Actors | Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan |
| Favorite Actress | Kriti Sanon, Alia Bhatt |
| Favorite Comedian | Sunil Grover Kapil Sharma, Krushna Abhishek |
| Food Habit | Non-Vegetarian |
| Favorite Cricketer | Zaheer Khan |
| Favorite Food | Chicken & Sea Food |
| Favorite Film | Sultan |
| Hobbies | Traveling |
| Favorite color | Black, Blue |
| Favorite Sport | Cricket |
| Car Collection | Not Known |
| Favorite Holiday Destination | Dubai, Maldives, London |
| Salary (approx) | 3 Crore/Match |
| Net Worth (approx) | $34 Million |
Instagram-@khaleelahmed13
