KARACHI: Legspin allrounder Rehan Ahmed became the youngest England Test player at the age of 18 years, 126 days as Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat in the third and final Test on Saturday.
Ahmed is 23 days younger than Brian Close, who previously held the long-standing record of the youngest England Test player when Close made his Test debut against New Zealand at Manchester in 1949 at the age of 18 years, 149 days.
Ahmed’s father Naeem was in the team huddle at the National Stadium when former England captain Nasser Hussain presented his Test cap. Naeem is the only family member attending England’s first Test series in Pakistan in 17 years.
The younger Ahmed originally accompanied the squad to Abu Dhabi as a net bowler when England had a training camp in the United Arab Emirates ahead of flying to Pakistan before he was drafted into the squad.
He has played only three first-class games for Leicestershire, but his attacking style impressed both coach Brendon McCullum and Stokes in a county game against Derbyshire where he made 122 and also picked up five wickets with his leg-spin bowling.
Ahmed has replaced 40-year-old James Anderson, who was rested after England took an unassailable 2-0 in the series with victories at Rawalpindi and Multan over the last two weeks.
Regular wicketkeeper Ben Foakes returns after missing out the first Test due to illness and Ollie Pope kept wickets in both Test matches. Foakes replaced Will Jacks.
Pakistan made four changes from the team which lost at Multan by 26 runs inside four days. Azhar Ali returned for his farewell Test match after being left out of the second Test due to poor form. Azhar, playing in his 97th Test, announced his retirement from Test cricket on Friday and replaced allrounder Mohammad Nawaz.
Opening batter Imam-ul-Haq aggravated a hamstring injury and Shan Masood replaced the lefthander. Leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood, who took 12 wickets in two Test matches, was dropped and left-arm spinner Nauman Ali made his first appearance of the series.
Pakistan, already without its key fast bowlers for the series because of injuries, awarded a Test debut to Mohammad Wasim. The 21-year-old right-arm fast bowler replaced seamer Mohammad Ali.
Teams:
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Agha Salman, Faheem Ashraf, Nauman Ali, Mohammad Wasim, Abrar Ahmed.
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Ben Foakes, Rehan Ahmed, Ollie Robinson, Jack Leach, Mark Wood.
