Leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, 18, is reportedly set to be part of his first senior England squad for the upcoming tour of Pakistan.
Ahmed, who was part of the England under-19s side which finished runners-up at the World Cup earlier this year, is highly rated and took his first five-wicket haul and scored his first century in Leicestershire's final County Championship game of the season against Derbyshire.
According to a report from the Telegraph, the teenager is set to be part of the expanded England squad which will travel to Abu Dhabi for a training camp and a three-day intra-squad warm-up game.
And while Ahmed will initially be with the England Lions, the report states that he is 'expected to be retained for the Test tour' where he will be a travelling reserve and a net bowler. As a result, Ahmed could become England's youngest Test debutant.
He trained with England's ODI squad earlier this summer, working with and learning from veteran leg-spinner Adil Rashid, and featured for the Lions in two 50-over warm-up matches against South Africa. However, Ahmed was first around the England squad back in 2016 when he was just 11, having been invited to bowl to the Test team ahead of a series against Pakistan.
England wanted to face leg-spinners as part of their preparation for Yasir Shah and Ahmed was invited by ex-England international and then MCC head coach Steve Kirby. And he made the most of his opportunity, getting both Ben Stokes and Sir Alastair Cook out to earn himself an invite back the following year.
"As much as I tried to stay calm and bowl to them like normal people, I just couldn't, because I was bowling to Ben Stokes and Alastair Cook and people with Ashes hundreds, and bowling in the same nets as people with five-fors and Test-match wickets,"Ahmed told ESPNcricinfo earlier this year.
"It was crazy. I bowled Ben Stokes a couple of leg-spinners and a googly and he snicked off; he wasn't the happiest so I didn't celebrate… I just took the ball and walked back to my mark.
"But when I snicked off Alastair Cook, that was a bit more like it. He wasn't as bothered. But I didn't celebrate because he's probably the best player in Test cricket. So I was just lucky to do that."
