In a interview with RevSportz’s Editor-in-Chief Boria Majumdar, Khaleel Ahmed opens up on his IPL revival, Rohit Sharma’s captaincy, MS Dhoni’s guidance, his red-ball ambitions, and why he believes he deserves another shot at India colours. Excerpts:
Boria: This season’s IPL gave us all a lot of hope that Khaleel Ahmed can contribute to Indian cricket again. Your thoughts on that.
Khaleel: Yes, this one thought of being able to serve Indian cricket again is what motivates me, keeps boosting my spirit and is my top priority. As you said, you have seen how my season went with CSK (Chennai Super Kings), it was really special.
Boria: How was it to get to play with MS (Dhoni) for CSK?
Khaleel: It is an absolute honour. He (Dhoni) was there during the preparatory camp, 25 days before the start of the IPL and I went to him to personally get clarity on how I see myself in the team so he gave me tips on how I can improve my skills and asked me to practice my in-swinger. I did that continuously for 20 straight days as per his instruction.
And playing with him is like — he lets me make my own decisions on the ground. At times when I have approached him asking if I can bowl a certain way in a certain situation, he has shown that confidence in me and let me play my own game. And then no matter the result, his reaction has remained the same. Also, him being the wicketkeeper, witnessing so many angles and types of balls from behind the wicket, showing confidence in my choice of bowling style, has made me feel like I too have the capability of deciding what’s right and what’s wrong on the ground.
Boria: How do you reflect back on your journey? How tough has it been and please tell us a bit about how Irfan (Pathan) and Zaheer (Khan) have helped you on the way.
Khaleel: The journey has been a combination of good and bad moments. It was during 2018-19 when I started out under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma in the Asia Cup. He gave me a lot of confidence, in spite of me being junior to him, he made me aware of the fact that I have something special in me. Such a successful cricketer taking the time to talk to me and inspiring me, boosted my confidence. At that age, you don’t really know what you have in yourself or what to do with yourself. I played for India for a year-and-a-half after that and in 2019, an ODI against West Indies was my last game. The next two years were full of injuries. Back then, as a young kid, I didn’t know how to look at myself, or what my routine should be, with so many injuries. So, during that journey, I got help from Irfan bhai and Zaheer bhai. It was an eye-opening moment for me when I heard their stories of struggle.
Irfan bhai asked me to keep my aims high, I even had a meal with Irfan bhai at his place where he served me himself. His guiding hand gave me a sense of confidence, or else I was lost at that point. I didn’t know how to take care of myself as a fast bowler and I had an opportunity to speak to Zaheer bhai over a call, later I got to meet him too. He explained how I should go about my domestic season. He asked me to gain experience, hence, I decided that if I get a chance in domestic or club cricket or whatever, I’ll not leave a single game. I have worked on my training and sleeping pattern. I have hired a personal physio to keep working on them. It’s good that I came back on track quickly.
When in 2022 Delhi picked me, Sourav dada (Ganguly) was there and he spoke to me every day, even called me in between seasons to tell me how I shouldn’t miss any of the domestic matches. He used to talk to me like he would talk to a kid. Today I understand the value of the small pushes he gave and the experience that each of those matches has given me. It doesn’t matter whether I’m playing for India or Rajasthan — at the end of the day, it’s me standing in that situation, and I’ll always play for my name and my pride. If you see, I have not missed any of the domestic games during the end and all I had in mind is that I’ll have to make my comeback for India. It felt like a kind of madness within me, but I guess that very madness gave me the opportunity to make a comeback, and I’m grateful for it.
Boria: What stood out for you as Rohit Sharma, the captain, having debuted under him?
Khaleel: I feel Rohit Sharma should play for the next 10 years for the good of Indian cricket and that’s my personal feeling. When in 2019, we were playing a series against Bangladesh in Rajkot, once I didn’t have a great day and only got one wicket, so he came to me and spoke to me personally in the dressing room. The team was leaving the stadium and he stayed back to have a one on one with me and told me how I should be. He told me that I am unaware of my own capabilities. When we were getting out of the stadium, all the fans were screaming for Rohit bhai and he told me that ‘all of this should happen for you too’ and that I should wish that for myself and stay positive.
A captain like him, talking to me like that after the match, made me wonder how kind a person he was. I’ve seen him do the same thing with Rishabh (Pant). ‘What a man! What a captain!’ I would say. People don’t even look at you when you have a bad match but as a captain he is something else. Recently I met him at the NCA (Centre of Excellence) during the Duleep Trophy and he looked very fit so I asked him to stay like that and keep playing. I have hardly seen such a captain and person in my life, he is a gem and I have a lot of respect and love for him. It’s not possible to express everything in this short interview.
Boria: How do we see Khaleel Ahmed in the next 1-2 years with so much coming up for India.? Can we see you in Indian colours?
Khaleel: I feel I have gained a lot of experience and I am pretty strong now. I am playing domestic continuously, playing for India A since 2017. I also played for India in 2018-19. Recently, when we were in England, there was a day when the score was 219 for 1, and I still hadn’t taken a wicket. The zeal to play for India made me perform and in the morning hours, I took 4 wickets in 4 overs. It’s the madness, the experience I’ve gained, and also my dream of playing red-ball cricket.
Talking about white-ball cricket, the IPL is a tough competition, even in the foreigners quota, the top ones play so If I am able to bowl dot balls on the flat Chennai pitch then I believe I have the ability to represent India. If I can make my name shine and prove myself on those wickets as a domestic player, competing against foreigners who represent their countries, then I believe I deserve to play for India. I do not have much facilities but I have Kookaburra experience, Dukes ball experience, experience on flat pitches in India. So I feel I can play anywhere in the world.
Boria: Can you tell us a bit more about your red-ball ambition with the WTC cycle going on?
Khaleel: I have a room at my house and the name of the room is Test Match which I kept in 2018. If I look at my journey since U-16, I have only played red-ball cricket. At U-19 there would only be Test matches. I used to have 5-wicket hauls too, so I used to think to myself that I do have a lot of skills needed for playing Test cricket. From around 2022, my ambition has only grown and I never missed a Ranji Trophy match even if it was a formality match that no one was playing. I can bowl round the wicket, over the wicket, working on my wobble seam, have worked on it with Peter Siddle, and played county cricket to get exposure. I prepare myself for situations. For example, if the captain instructs me to bowl a bouncer spell with the old ball, I should be ready for it. My ambition of playing Test cricket is very strong, I have even worked with Troy Cooley at the NCA, trying to work on bowling with the old ball, working on my reverse swing, working on my planning, my patience and much more. It’s a big part of my aim and target, because I feel I can serve for a long time and still have the speed that’s required.
Boria: People usually show most of their interest in IPL but it was lovely to hear such love for red-ball cricket from you.
Khaleel: Being from Tonk (a small town in Rajasthan), cricket has given me enough to meet my basic needs. I can wear what I like, eat what I like. But more than that, I want to be remembered by people. I want to serve my country in a way that people don’t forget. Like they forget IPL performances in a year or two. I have seen Sachin Tendulkar do it, VVS Laxman do it, Rahul Dravid do it and their performances are still remembered so that’s what my wish and aim is. I feel happy when I see someone debuting in Test cricket and getting interviewed for that, I too want that pride for myself.
Boria: You must have been very happy seeing Mohammed Siraj’s performance in the last Test match (England vs India, Oval). Thoughts on that.
Khaleel: I was very happy for him as he is a very good friend of mine. I could feel how good it must feel to be able to live those moments. That must have been a dream for him as well. As a fast bowler, the amount of effort and hard work it takes to run so fast, keep playing for 5 Tests and perform well on top of that, is outstanding. I can very well feel how happy his family must have felt for him. It’s a great feeling to see someone actualise the things you dream of and Siraj exactly did that.
Boria: I really hope you get to feel these sensations as well and Thanks a lot for joining me.
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