Khaleel Ahmed pulls out of his Essex stint midway due to personal reasons
Essex on Monday, July 28, confirmed that Khaleel Ahmed will no longer be part of their line-up for the rest of the summer after the Indian pacer cut his stint short. Khaleel played a couple of County Championship Division One matches for Essex.
Indian pacer Khaleel Ahmed returned home, cutting his Essex stint short midway after playing just two County Championship Division One matches. Khaleel, who impressed one and all in the second India A game against the England Lions, was signed by Essex for a two-month stint, which would have had him available for six County Championship matches and 10 List-A matches for the One-Day Cup. However, citing personal reasons, Khaleel ended his time with Essex.
"While we are disappointed to see him leave, we fully support Khaleel’s decision and are grateful for the contributions he made during his time with us," Essex said in a statement on Monday, July 28.
Khaleel picked up a total of four wickets in the two matches he played against Yorkshire and Sussex. His best came in the first innings against Sussex (2/46), where he picked crucial wickets of Tom Haines and Danial Ibrahim, while getting the latter yet again in the second innings. Essex won the game by an innings and 39 runs.
The left-arm pacer was one of the few bright spots for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) alongside Dewald Brevis, Noor Ahmad and Ayush Mhatre in a disappointing IPL season, taking 15 wickets while bowling the third-highest dot balls for the season. Khaleel, who made his international comeback last year, has represented India in 11 ODIs and 18 T20Is and is likely to be around the selection discussions for the upcoming Asia Cup and the Australia white-ball tour.
Essex are yet to name a replacement for Khaleel.
The next round of matches in the County Championship kick off on Tuesday, July 29, while the One-Day Cup commences on August 5, the same day as the new edition of the Hundred.