Follow UsOn July 13 (Saturday), Khaleel Ahmed, who was unable to get going in the first three matches of the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe, finally came good in the fourth encounter, with figures of 2/32 as India sealed the series with a thumping 10-wicket win in Harare.
The left-arm pacer didn't get a look in and was only reserved to travelling with the Indian squad at the T20 World Cup 2024. However, his influence on the national team was well-noticed here, both in the powerplay and at the death.
“I adapted to the conditions and was happy with the way I executed. Very happy to be part of this dressing room. I was missing it when I was out of the squad,” the 26-year-old said in the post-match interview.
The Delhi Capitals pacer opened up on his learnings while spending time with the national team during the victorious run in the Caribbean, adding that he worked hard on his variations.
“I have responsibility as I have to bowl the first over. I was in the World Cup reserves and worked hard on my variations - cutters and yorkers. Happy with the way the cutters are spinning," he stated.
On the other hand, Yashasvi Jaiswal, who missed out in the third match, scoring 36 off 27 balls, made full use of the good batting conditions and scored a brilliant 93 off just 53 balls in this match.
“I really enjoyed my batting today. I had my plans for different bowlers. The ball was coming on when it was new and as it got old, it was quite slow," Jaiswal reflected on his knock.
Batting with skipper Shubman Gill, the 22-year-old added 156 for the opening-wicket partnership, becoming only the third Indian pair after Rohit Sharma-KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma-Shikhar Dhawan to have multiple hundred runs partnership in T20Is.
“I enjoyed batting with Shubman. Initially I was thinking of taking on the bowlers and as the innings progressed, I thought how to build the innings and stay till the end,” Jaiswal said.
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