Khaleel Ahmed accuses Vizag fans of supporting CSK more despite the venue being Delhi Capitals' home

If the Delhi Capitals were able to register their first victory of the IPL 2024 season then left-arm seamer Khaleel Ahmed had a huge part to play. His performance with the ball during the 2nd innings was just exceptional as he carried on the momentum he picked up in the first two matches of the outfit where they lost to Punjab Kings first and then to Rajasthan Royals. After the match, Khaleel made a true and funny claim that Chennai Super Kings are the only team that plays all their 14 games at home.

Khaleel Ahmed said that in the context of the ACA-VDCA stadium in Vizag filled with Yellow Jerseys despite the venue serving as home for the Delhi Capitals. It was a very rare occasion for the venue to host an IPL match as the Sunrisers Hyderabad, who are an Andhra Pradesh-based outfit, play their games at the Rajiv Gandhi stadium in Hyderabad.

With Yellow jerseys all around, it didn’t look like the home venue of DC, who will be thankful for the fact that they picked up a victory in their first so-called home game. It is not just about the venue in Vishakhapatnam, but every single venue that CSK goes to play, it’s only the Yellow Army that turns up and we all know the reason why – Thala Dhoni. It was the same thing that Khaleel Ahmed mentioned while speaking after the match.

Despite playing under Rishabh Pant, Khaleel Ahmed considers MS Dhoni as his captain

When asked to shed light on the Yellow brigade turning up at the stadium, Khaleel Ahmed claimed that his teammates enjoy the occasion when they see all CSK supporters in the stadium. The left-arm seamer also stated that it’s something to be respectful about and that MS Dhoni might have relinquished captaincy, he is still his and everyone’s captain.

“First of all, let me tell you. Chennai Super Kings always play their IPL matches on home grounds (laughs). We also respect that. We enjoy it as well and it is fun as he is our captain as well.” – Khaleel said after the match.

Khaleel Ahmed is one of those fortunate cricketers who played along with MS Dhoni for the Indian team before the latter called time on his career on 15th August 2020. During Khaleel’s debut ODI match in Asia Cup 2018 against Hong Kong, he had Dhoni behind the stumps for him and that’s why he has enormous respect for Thala.

Khaleel Ahmed says the DC camp was thrilled with joy after the win

Khaleel Ahmed, for figures of 2/21 in all 4 overs, was adjudged as man of the match and his performance. Following the victory, he stated that the mood in DC camp is all smiles and that they have picked up good momentum, heading into their following games.

“When you win, you get the momentum. The victory reveals our best bits and also the areas we need to improve. So the atmosphere now created has given the answers to those questions.” – Ahmed concluded.