I missed my time in this dressing room: Khaleel relishes Harare exploits | India tour of Zimbabwe, 2024

Khaleel, who took two wickets in the fourth T20I against Zimbabwe, was part of the reserve list, not the main India T20 squad for the 2024 World Cup

On July 13 (Saturday), Khaleel Ahmed, who failed to start in the first three matches of the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe, finally managed to establish himself 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 was not given a look and was only booked to travel with the Indian team in the 2024 T20 World Cup. 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 I was happy with the way I played. I’m very happy to be part of this dressing room. I missed it when I wasn’t in the team,” the 26-year-old said in the post-match interview.

The Delhi Capitals pacer spoke about what he learnt from spending time with the national team during the victorious run in the Caribbean, adding that he worked hard on his variations.

“I have a responsibility because I have to bowl the first over. I was in the World Cup reserves and I worked hard on my variations – the cutters and the yorkers. I am happy with the way the cutters are going,” he said.

On the other hand, Yashasvi Jaiswal, who missed out in the third match, scoring 36 off 27 balls, took full advantage of the good batting conditions and scored a brilliant 93 off just 53 balls in this match.

“I really enjoyed my game today. I had plans for different bowlers. The ball was coming when it was new and when it was old it was quite slow,” Jaiswal said of his stroke.

Batting with captain 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 a multi-hundred partnership in T20Is.

“I enjoyed playing with Shubman. Initially, I thought about taking on the bowlers and as the innings progressed, I thought about how to build the innings and stay till the end,” Jaiswal said.

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