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Fiery Khaled cements his place 

Samiur Rahman
28 Jun 2022 00:00:00 | Update: 28 Jun 2022 00:47:11
Fiery Khaled cements his place 

Pacer Khaled Ahmed is gradually firming his place in the Test team as a key bowler with his performance overseas getting better.

Khaled made his debut in 2018 against ZImbabwe at Mirpur but had to wait more than three years to earn his first international wicket, which came in his third Test match in 2021 against Pakistan at the same ground.

The right-arm pacer from Sylhet was not the first choice, he got a place in the team due to the absence of injured Taskin Ahmed, and Khaled is making the most to seize the opportunity.

Khaled grabbed his first five-wicket-haul on Sunday at the Darren Sammy Stadium in St. Lucia, becoming the second Bangladeshi pacer to do so this year and an overall tenth from Bangladesh in 22 years of Test cricket.

He ended with figures of 31.3-3-106-5, helping to bowl West Indies out for 408 runs in their first innings.

This could be his last outing in the Caribbeans this time as an innings defeat is threatening Bangladesh, and Khaled might not get the chance to bowl again. Still, the series has changed the colour of his career.

Khaled’s improvements were visible from the South Africa tour. After that, he was a bit dull against Sri Lanka at home, but he found his fiery side in the Caribbeans.

It took Khaled one delivery less from 70 overs to find his first scalp in international cricket, but he is making up for it quickly.

He has picked up 10 wickets on this tour and took eight on the South Africa tour. And within a short time, Khaled has become one of pace bowling coach Alan Donald’s favourite students.

Mahmud Emon has been watching Khaled from his early days when he was brought to a local training camp by his friend Imran Ali Enam, who used to play for Sylhet Division in the National Cricket League.

Emon, the former head coach of the Sylhet divisional cricket team, who later took up the charge of the women’s national team in their first World Cup campaign, told The Business Post how Khaled’s bowling has changed in recent times.

“We communicate regularly. Even before going to West Indies, he came to me for two days. He brought some minor tweaks in his bowling, which are making him successful,” Emon said from Sylhet.

“Firstly, he adjusted his line and length. His length was fine, but he was bowling a bit wide. Now his line is good. That’s why his in-swingers are getting more effective,” said Emon.

“He has also developed a knuckleball. I told him to practice this delivery during the Test match because in limited-overs there is hardly any scope for experiment. He tried that and got the wicket of Kyle Mayers with such a delivery,” added Emon.

Khaled also said after the third day that out of his five wickets, the dismissal of Mayers was one he craved.

“Especially taking the wicket of Mayers was the result of a lot of hard work. I was trying to get him out from yesterday (Saturday), and finally, I got him out today (Sunday) with a slower delivery. It felt good that finally, my plans worked,” he told in a video message from St Lucia.

“When he first came to me, I realised and told him many times that he has everything to be a top-quality fast bowler. He has got the physique, the strength. Now he only has to follow the routines of international pacers and be mentally strong,” Emon added.

Emon finds that Khaled also brought a little change in his grip. Earlier it was wide open, and now, his grip is closed. The former Sylhet divisional team head coach feels that if he can make some improvement in his release and landing, he could generate more pace.

“His bowling action is not as clean as Ebadot. He drags a bit while coming to release the ball. If he can perfect his action, he could generate more pace,” the local coach said.

This is almost like a second coming for Khaled because after his expensive stint against New Zealand in 2019, where he went for 149 runs in 30 overs and remained wicketless, he did not play for Bangladesh for the next three years. Eventually, he was curbed from the central contract offered by the Bangladesh Cricket Board.

Khaled got a chance to play in the South Africa series despite having poor stats behind him and impressed there. And in the Caribbeans, he found his rhythm and delivered his career-best.

Bangladesh now have the luxury of having a pool of pacers, and Khaled is quickly coming up to take a regular place in the team.

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