CSK star betrays club to leave England to cut short his County Championship 2025 deal

The left-arm India and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) pacer, Khaleel Ahmed, has cut short his deal in the County Championship 2025 for Essex after playing two first-class games. He had initially signed for a two-month stint with the team, which would have seen him play six first-class fixtures till the remainder of the first-class season. 

Besides that, Khaleel Ahmed was supposed to be part of a maximum of ten possible List A games in the One-day Cup. The club announced his signing in June, after he impressed the management with a fine spell of 4/70 for India A during the red-ball game against the England Lions.

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The Rajasthan-born flew out to join the club for the stint that was expected to last till late September and played two encounters, taking just four wickets at an average of over 64. However, Essex released a press statement to confirm the news of the pacer returning home. ‘We fully support Khaleel's decision and are grateful for the contributions he made during his time with us.’ They revealed, besides showing his disappointment.

Khaleel Ahmed returns home to cut short County Championship 2025 deal with Essex

Khaleel has featured in 11 ODIs for India and has picked up 15 wickets at an average of 31 and a strike rate of 32, with the best figures of 3/13 in an innings. In 18 T20Is, the left-arm pacer has collected 16 wickets at an average of 35.12 and a strike rate of 24.7, besides his economy rate of just over 8.50, thanks to the best of 2/27.

His international white-ball career started in 2014 during the Asia Cup against Hong Kong, while the last game was against Sri Lanka during the T20I at Kandy last year. In this year’s 14 IPL 2025 innings, the experienced campaigner has picked up 15 wickets at an average of under 30 and an economy rate of nearly 9.60.

Rajasthan kept him in the squad and also picked him for last year’s Duleep Trophy. Across 22 first-class games, he has bagged 60 wickets at an average of 30.13. He will also be in contention for the inter-zonal Duleep Trophy competition, which begins India’s red-ball season on August 28.