Is Khaleel Ahmed ready for Team India?

A come-from-behind series victory is always special, especially when it's a lot closer than what the 2-1 scoreline suggests. However, halo of triumph often obscures mistakes of a winning team. 

A fairy-tale, world-record effort of six wickets for seven runs, including a hat trick, by Deepak Chahar in the final T20 match against Bangladesh at Nagpur and Rohit Sharma's splendid knock (43-ball 85) in the second match at Rajkot did just that - cover up a rather poor performance of left-arm medium pacer, Khaleel Ahmed. 

In the 3 T20Is, Ahmed finished with 2 wickets for 108 runs in 12 overs at an average of 54 and economy rate of 9. 

Further, if one considers Ahmed's first three T20Is series, he had figures of 10 wickets in 9 matches with an average of 32.19 and economy rate of 9.17. His strike rate was a dismal 21, which means he took a wicket every 21 balls out of the 24 ball-quota a bowler gets.

Are the figures so flattering that the bowler was persisted with and included in two subsequent series? 

Since Nov 4, '18, when he made his T20I debut against West Indies, Ahmed has picked up 13 wickets in 14 T20Is at an average of 35.30 and economy rate of 8.82. 

The plea that's often offered in case of Ahmed is that a left-arm medium pacer brings in variation to the bowling attack. He is known to bring the ball in to right-arm batsmen and at times beat the bat with pace. 

The 21-year old bowler from Rajasthan did hit a purple patch in the last IPL, where he took 19 wickets in 9 matches but doesn't appear to be ready for international cricket yet. 

He seems to lack the wicket-taking ability and control needed during the business end of the match, which the wily Bangladesh batsman Mushfiqur Rahim exposed in the opening match of the series in New Delhi. 

Even his ODI record of 15 wickets in 11 matches at an ave of 31 and economy rate of 5.81 is unimpressive.

However, it's not entirely Ahmed's mistake for his international career was fast tracked by the Indian selectors and team management in their quest to find a left-arm medium pacer.

And this despite the fact that the young lad hasn't quite set the opposition on fire in either the First-class (5 wkts in 3 matches at an ave of 50) or List A (61 wkts in 41 matches at an ave of 27.27) cricket though he seemed to have done rather well in T20 format (61 wkts in 39 matches at an ave of 19.26).

So what next for Ahmed? Based on his poor performance, the selectors should duly drop him. It would also open up a place for more experienced bowlers like Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. 

However, Ahmed should be persisted with in the domestic circuit and encouraged to further sharpen his skills and gain crucial experience. 

Ahmed is still very young and can come back in a couple of years to serve Indian cricket for long and with distinction.