Twitter reacts as Khaleel Ahmed makes his debut for India against Hong Kong

In India's first match in the 2018 Asia Cup, they lost the toss and were sent in to bat first by Hong Kong. While India might not miss Virat Kohli much in the match against Hong Kong, they have a new player making his debut for the team.

20-year-old Khaleed Ahmed was handed his cap before the match and he became the 222nd player to represent India in ODIs.

Post-toss remarks from the captains:

Rohit Sharma: Getting used to the conditions as quickly as possible. We are ready for that. Asia Cup has a long history over the years and it's a competitive tournament. You got to put your best foot forward. A lot of guys are playing for the first time in this part of the world. It's exciting for them and me as well.

It has been one of the areas of concern over the years. Our batting has dominated but our bowling has come a long way in the last few years. I am quite excited for our middle order and it's a challenge for all of us to bat and score in such conditions.

Anshuman Rath: We want to get out there as bowling is our strength and we want to show our skills. I think the way we batted against Pakistan was inexcusable, we want to rectify that. It's never easy to bowl against them but bowling is our strength and we'll look to go out there with a smile. There's a bit of grass so chasing is easier under the lights.

Playing XIs:

India's playing XI: Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni(w), Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, K Khaleel Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal

Hong Kong's playing XI: Nizakat Khan, Anshuman Rath(c), Babar Hayat, Christopher Carter, Kinchit Shah, Ehsan Khan, Aizaz Khan, Scott McKechnie(w), Tanwir Afzal, Ehsan Nawaz, Nadeem Ahmed

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Twitter reactions:

A debut for Khaleel Ahmed. Still relatively inexperienced but highly rated within the cricket community in India

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) September 18, 2018

Seems like Khaleel is making his ODI debut, very exciting talent. Looking fwd to seeing him at this level, hope he goes well #INDvHK #AsiaCup2018

— Deep Dasgupta (@DeepDasgupta7) September 18, 2018

Congratulations Khaleel Ahmed on earning your maiden #TeamIndia cap against Hong Kong in #AsiaCup2018 👏 pic.twitter.com/VkJFb83JIU

— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) September 18, 2018

Legendary #TeamIndia left-arm bowler @ImZaheer is full of praise for Khaleel Ahmed. With the game against Hong Kong due in some time, do you reckon a debut is on the cards for our young stallion? #INDvHK #AsiaCup2018 pic.twitter.com/lhQ1EpXGEv

— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) September 18, 2018

Good to see Khaleel Ahmed getting a game for National team. This exposure will help him learn quickly.Hope people don’t start judging him from game one.He is one for the future.#INDvHK

— K.D.Reddy 🏏🇮🇳 (@SouthSanghi) September 18, 2018

Khaleel Ahmed makes his ODI debut-Was with DD in 2016 and 2017. SRH in 2018-From Tonk, Rajasthan-Clocked 148 kmph in the recently concluded Mushtaq Ali tournament (Took 17 wickets in 10 games)- Idolises Zaheer Khan. Has trained with McGrath & Ryan Harris#AsiaCup2018 #INDvHK

— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) September 18, 2018

Khaleel Ahmed has been very good in domestic. Average speed has been 145kmh. Swing in and away with speed has been his strength along with accuracy.Shardul thakur is replica of Bhuvi with lesser experience.

— Sir Bumrah Bhuvi #AsiaCup 😱😈💓🇮🇳 (@imkd10) September 18, 2018

becahara Khaleel Ahmed is gonna spend his entire career without ever having his name pronounced correctly. Laxman Sivaramakrishnan just called him Kalil.

— Hassan Cheema (@mediagag) September 18, 2018

Rohit Sharma on Khaleel Ahmed, "He's a great addition to the squad, has a lot of pace. Looking forward to watch him play well and do well for the country. He possesses great skillset. He might be nervous but he has got all that is required to play at the highest level."

— Sameer Allana (@HitmanCricket) September 17, 2018

Zaheer Khan's long term left arm successor, Khaleel Ahmed.

— Soham (@BTecSoham) September 18, 2018

Khaleel Ahmed gets a game today, really looking forward to seeing him in action when India bowls #INDvHK

— Vibhor (@dhotedhulwate) September 18, 2018

India is searching not only 4th place batsman but also the 3rd seamer 1 umesh yadav2 shami3 Deepak chahar4 shardul thakur5 khaleel ahmed #INDvHK

— Krishna Balineni (@KrishnaBalineni) September 18, 2018