What happened the last time Khaleel Ahmed played an ODI for India? 

Khaleel Ahmed was once touted as India's preferred left-arm pace bowling option after legendary bowlers like Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra. However, the 26-year-old has featured in just 11 ODIs and 17 T20Is, taking a total of 31 wickets, with his career not taking off as expected due to bad form and injuries.

Ahmed came into the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 with 14 wickets in six games in the Ranji Trophy. He continued his good form in the league by returning as the joint-highest wicket-taker for Delhi Capitals with 17 scalps in 14 appearances.

As a result, Khaleel Ahmed was named in the reserves for the 2024 T20 World Cup, which saw India secure their second ICC title in the shortest format. He finally played his first international game after nearly five years in the recent T20I series against Zimbabwe.

He managed to pick up three wickets in as many appearances at an economy of 6.81, thus playing a part in India's 4-1 series victory.

On July 18, the left-arm pacer was named in the ODI as well as T20I squads to face Sri Lanka, starting later this month. On that note, let's take a look at Ahmed's last 50-over appearance in Indian colors.

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Khaleel Ahmed last played an ODI against West Indies in August 2019

In Khaleel Ahmed's last ODI outing, India were up against the challenge of the West Indies in Port of Spain on August 14, 2019. The home side won the toss and opted to bat first.

The opening combination of Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis provided an impressive start to the Caribbean team, as they went all guns blazing with their strokeplay. The duo stitched a 115-run stand in less than 11 overs before Lewis was dismissed by Chahal for 43 off 29.

Soon, Ahmed had 'Universe Boss' hole out to Virat Kohli at mid-off. In his last ODI appearance, Gayle slammed 72 off 41 balls, with eight fours and five sixes. The rain interruption during the middle of the innings saw the game reduced to 35 overs.

Then, other bowlers like Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami chipped in to contain the opposition batters. Meanwhile, Khaleel Ahmed dismissed all-rounders Carlos Brathwaite and Jason Holder as West Indies posted 240 on the board.

The left-arm pacer finished as the highest wicket-taker for the visitors with figures of 3/68 off seven overs. The revised target for India was 255, as per the DLS method.

In response, India lost Rohit Sharma (10) early. However, the pair of Shikhar Dhawan and skipper Virat Kohli steered the team on the right path with their positive intent. They stitched a 66-run stand before Dhawan was dismissed for 36 off as many balls.

Coming in at No. 4, Rishabh Pant was dismissed for a duck. Nevertheless, Shreyas Iyer (65 off 41) played an explosive innings, comprising five sixes and three fours.

In the end, Kohli remained unbeaten on 114 off 99, with 14 fours and helped the team secure a sensational victory with more than two overs to spare. Meanwhile, Kedar Jadhav remained unbeaten on 19 off 12.