Left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed has opened up on his relationship with former India captain MS Dhoni and how he considers the latter as his ‘guru’.
Dhoni is widely regarded as one of the greatest captains to have played the game. He remains the only captain who has won all ICC white-ball trophies including the ODI World Cup, T20 World Cup and Champions Trophy.
“It’s not friendship, (he’s) not an elder brother. It’s that of a guru,” Khaleel said on former India opener Aakash Chopra’s YouTube channel.
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Chopra quizzed Khaleel on his various viral Instagram pictures including one in which he’s receiving a bouquet from Dhoni.
“We were in New Zealand and were heading towards the practice area from the main ground,” Khaeel said. “During that walk, Mahi bhai’s fans presented him with flowers. I was walking alongside him. And he passed on the bouquet to me and someone clicked the picture. I love this photo.”
Khaleel says bowling the first over for India remains his biggest dream and he still wants to be that bowler who opens the attack.
“The biggest dream of my life has been open the bowling for India,” Khaleel said. “I have bowled the second over but first over…Zak (Zaheer Khan) bhai also used to bowl the first over. So during Asia Cup (2018), Mahi bhai captained a match against Afghanistan. At the team huddle, he said it’s hot today, I will give short spells and bowl accordingly. And then he said ‘Khaleel, start from there’. I rushed towards where the umpire was standing midway through the huddle to avoid any chance of him (Dhoni) rethinking his plan. I still want to open bowling for India because in my mind the most important bowler starts the proceedings.
Khaleel, who made his India debut way back in 2018, recently made his international comeback during the T20I series in Zimbabwe.
Australia legend Ricky Ponting has backed the left-arm pacer to make the cut in India’s squad for their upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy.
“Someone like Khaleel Ahmed I think could find himself on the Test tour. I know he’s just been over in Zimbabwe recently and played that (T20I) series over there, but a left-armer would be ideal for them to have in their touring squad,” Ponting told ICC.
Ponting has closely worked with Khaleel during his time as the head coach of IPL franchise Delhi Capitals.
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