During the tournament, Khaleel made his ODI debut and got the chance to bowl the first over for India, fulfilling one of his childhood dreams. Dhoni as more than just a friend or elder brother, calling him his 'guru.' He shared this during a conversation with Aakash Chopra on YouTube. "Mahi bhai is not my friend, not my elder brother, he is my guru. Since my childhood, I wanted to become the bowler who took the first over from India since I had watched Zaheer Khan growing up. In the Asia Cup, Mahi bhai asked me to bowl the first over. I ran so hard, away from the huddle thinking that if I give it time he might change his mind," Khaleel said. Another cherished memory for Khaleel involves a viral photo with Dhoni during India's tour of New Zealand in 2019. In this picture, Dhoni is seen giving flowers to Khaleel. The young pacer revealed that these flowers were initially given to Dhoni by fans, and he passed them on to Khaleel. "We were in New Zealand, Mahi bhai's fans had given him flowers, he passed it onto me and some fans took a photo, it was quite memorable for me," Khaleel added. The left-arm pacer was included in the Zimbabwe T20 series, and was part of the travelling reserves in the T20 World Cup. MS Dhoni, on the other hand, took part in the IPL 2024 and is expected to play next season as well.