England Test coach Brendon McCullum has tipped teenage sensation Rehan Ahmed to earn a deal with an Indian Premier League (IPL) side following his record-breaking performance in Karachi.
Ahmed became the youngest ever cricketer to take a five wicket haul on Test debut at the tender age of 18 years and 126 days when he picked up 5-48 in a brilliant spell on day three of the third and final Test against Pakistan, with captain Ben Stokes simply stating the teenager "bowled us to victory".
The leg-spinner has entered the upcoming IPL auction with a base price of just 40 lakh (around £40,000) and also enjoyed a strong year in white ball cricket, taking 19 wickets at 20.15 in the T20 Blast for Leicestershire. And McCullum, who coached IPL side Kolkata Knight Riders before taking the England job, believes it would be "awesome" if Ahmed was picked up in the auction.
"It would be great," he told BBC Test Match Special. "It would be awesome if he did. I've been involved with the IPL a couple of times so sometimes it works out for guys and sometimes it doesn't. Why not?
"Why not get an opportunity to go and play under different coaches and different captains and rub shoulders with different players and pick up those experiences? What 18-year-old kid anywhere else in world cricket is going to get those chances? I think we should encourage it."
Ahmed already has a deal to play in the inaugural ILT20 in the UAE in January and February, where he will represent Andy Flower's Gulf Giants alongside a number of fellow England stars including Ollie Pope, Chris Jordan and James Vince. The ECB's performance director Mo Bobat said in October the teenager had been "inundated" with franchise offers, but said England have "a real responsibility to manage him carefully".
And it is a sentiment echoed by McCullum who admits that, while Ahmed should look to "get as many experiences around the globe" as he can, England must "continue to look after him". "He's got a real future," McCullum added.
"He's a guy who has been on the radar of English cricket for a little while. It took some courage from Stokesy and a few people to thrust him into this opportunity.
"The more we're prepared to do that, the more we can discover how talented people are and how much they can grow on the big stage as well. The important thing for Rehan is that we continue to look after him.
"He won't be in every squad and I'll encourage him to play as much franchise cricket as he can, and get as many experiences around the globe and play with different players, under different coaches and in different conditions.
"His skill is not a problem, his attitude is absolutely brilliant. We've just got to get as much experience into him as possible. That's not just at Test level but in leagues as well.
"I couldn't be happier for him: it will give other kids around England some motivation that if you work hard enough and you've got skill and the game is your passion, then you can actually achieve it, maybe sooner than you thought."
