Bac vs. Eng 2 Multan test

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There were 10 minutes of the lunch break left, but Rehan Ahmed was already out of the dressing room at the Karachi National Stadium and back on the field. With big spinner Jack Leach in company, he turned his arm several times, instantly bouncing between deliveries into a full glove.

The last few hours have been equal parts historical and emotional. At 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, when the lots rose and teams were confirmed, Ahmed officially became England’s youngest cricketer, moments after being presented with his hat by former captain Nasir Hussain, with his father, Naeem, at his side. He had barely begun to tuck the navy blue solid top in before dad hugged him followed by a kiss. All that was missing from the “Asian dad embarrasses his teen in front of their new friends” bingo was a squeeze of the cheeks.

Then, with 16 all out to go, Pakistan were 59 for 2 after choosing to bat first in this third Test, and Ahmed found himself with the ball in hand at the University End Road. On hand were slip and bat, though neither were particularly in the game in his first spell: Five of his wicked slips went for 37 pitches, through which he was either too short or too full. Against Babar Azam and Azhar Ali, two fine spin bowlers, there will be little margin of error or goodwill towards an opponent who is making only his fourth appearance in first-class cricket.

Was this a nervous kid showing up for the audition? definitely. He admitted that he was unable to eat or sleep the night before his debut, as he walked around the team’s Movenpick hotel with a ball in his hand. Just 24 hours before this, Ben Stokes called Ahmed to his room where he and Brendon McCollum informed him of the choice.

However, Ahmed’s emergence with time to spare before the second session was as much about anxiety as it was about someone eager to carry on to the next step. In the past 11 months alone. A premier Under-19 World Cup, a top-class debut, a stint in the men’s 100 and now a trial hat all came in such quick succession that he was predisposed to always looking forward. As a self-diagnosed badger cricket, something he revealed earlier this year, he wanted to keep that awareness of all those hours he spent behind closed doors, either batting with shadow or working on shadow bats. There is, with Ahmed, a good kind of turbulent energy.

By the time the second spell came around, those shoulders, knuckles, and wrists were looser, and the cap fit a little better. Nerves brushed aside with the help of supportive team mates and a captain who couldn’t care less about running, Ahmed really got into the middle of it from the Pavilion End. The googly that many were raving about – very short in the morning – was on the money on the 42nd. Ahmed, rounding the wicket, bowled himself on his left fore leg to rip the ball past the outside edge of Saud Shakil. As a result, the left-hander played his next turn a little wider than he would have liked. But this time it was the norm. With the inside-half more exposed to his bat, an inside-half cannon shot off Shaquille’s forehand and fell into Ollie Pope’s sprawling, tipped right hand at short leg.

The relief of that first wicket, reinforced by a bevy of team-mates who gave their jubilation at his first success at once, set him free in his free ways. Once that base five-a-side rush came to an end—1 vs. 19—changing the endings back to their original starting point made a real spell of note.

Across 12 more places—two before tea—he slept like that was just a manifestation of those childhood moments to himself, when he had nothing but his own ambition and imagination. In fact, the mistake that brought his second share was the stuff dreams are made of. He feinted another left fielder – Faheem Ashraf this time – playing low leg, appropriately enough given where the ball fell, but was left dead as the delivery flipped across his bat and onto his back-pad.

“I’ve been bowling left-handed all my life,” Ahmed smiled on Sky Sports at the end of the play, once Leach had reached the rest of Pakistan’s bowlers to wrap up their innings of 304. The left-hander in question? Elder brother Raheem, who was in the stands watching at his father’s side. “I used the tactic I used against him: googly and then legspinner. And it worked.”

Rehan Ahmed’s googly bowled for the first wicket, and he dismissed Faheem Ashraf for his second wicket • Getty Images

Perhaps the hardest thing they both faced was the crash: the highs of the noise, followed by the ease with which both were deemed inadequate at this level. That’s why Stokes, McCollum, director of cricket Rob Key and performance manager Mo Popat decided to keep the noise surrounding Ahmed as quiet as possible. His progression from three County Championship matches against Leicestershire to the Lions in the UAE, and then on this Pakistan tour, was described as an ‘easy going’ rather than a real bargain. Ahmed was the exciting prospect for them, as they don’t want you to get too excited about it. And here we are now, very excited about it.

Then again, the whole point of legspin—and the whole point of being young in a sport that no one else is ever good at—is to get you swept away by these moments, whether they happen to you or in front of you. for both? Well, that’s good luck.

The late Shane Warne got excited when he first saw Ahmed in the net at Lord’s as a 13-year-old in 2017, when he dismissed Joe Root (lbw) and his current captain, Stokes (at a loss). “I think you’ll be playing first-class cricket by the age of fifteen,” said Warne. In the end, he was only sidelined for two years, and likewise Pakistan coach Saqlain Mushtaq was beaming with pride, given that this debut had come in the hometown of Ahmed’s parents. “It is a matter of pride that so many Pakistanis are playing for other countries,” he said. Basil threw well today.

“The way he gave deliveries to Babar and all the Pakistani fighters makes me think there is something in him. I see a bright future ahead of him. He plays for England, but his Pakistani roots make me very proud.”

The talent is undeniable, and the tough skill execution is exemplary under the most intense pressure he can be subjected to yet. Of course, we don’t have to promise the world the name of Ahmed. However, the compulsion to write a “but” here is too strong. Especially in this England team, where the current levels of optimism are such that nothing seems farfetched, not even the idea that they have a future Hall of Famer in their midst.

“I mean, I think it’s the best Test team that’s ever played,” Ahmed said. “Playing at such a young age is just a blessing. I guess you can’t… Things like this don’t come like this, so it’s great to be making your debut at 18.”

By the end of the day, with Ahmed returning first Test innings figures of 2 for 89 in 22 overs, his father and brother were down on their phones. There were congratulatory messages to respond to, and a refusal to view on replays. Memories are already set in stone on the first day of an international career that has just begun.

Yes, English cricket has been burned many times by promising too much, and that’s not just about meeting cricketers more than halfway through. With Ahmed, it looks like the right steps are being made for this latest tale to have a happy ending. The dressing room that Ahmed finds himself in will ensure that he can tell his story in his own way and at his own pace.

Vithushan Ehantharajah is Associate Editor for ESPNcricinfo

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