Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Matthew Cooper

Jos Buttler "excited" by Rehan Ahmed ahead of World Cup after stunning Test debut

England white-ball captain Jos Buttler is "really excited" about the potential of teenage leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, who looks set to make his ODI and T20I debuts against Bangladesh next month.

Ahmed is viewed as the potential long-term successor to Adil Rashid and could be part of England's 50-over World Cup defence later this year, with the tournament taking place in India where spin will be key.

The 18-year-old notably became England's youngest ever men's Test cricketer last year when he picked up a five-wicket haul on debut in an eight-wicket win over Pakistan in Karachi.

And Buttler believes Ahmed has the ability to become a "brilliant international cricketer" and that being able to work with Rashid in Bangladesh "will be a huge benefit to him and a big step in his development".

Speaking ahead of the first ODI on Wednesday, Buttler said: "Rehan's a really exciting talent. He's still a very young man - just a teenager. We're excited about his development and where we think he can go and it's great to have him in and around the England set-up.

"Someone like Adil Rashid has been such a star performer for us for a long period of time, Rehan getting to spend time with him and discuss bowling and watching each other bowl will be a huge benefit to him and a big step in his development.

Jos Buttler is preparing to lead England's 50-over World Cup defence (Gareth Copley-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)

"We're really excited to have someone with so much talent, not just with the ball, with the bat as well. We're looking forward to watching him develop and hopefully turning himself into a brilliant international cricketer."

Buttler also feels Bangladesh is "exactly the kind of challenge we need", with the ODI series one of just three England will play before the World Cup and the only one taking place in similar subcontinent conditions to what they will encounter in India.

"It will be a great challenge for us, Bangladesh are very tough to beat in their home conditions, they've recently beaten India here," he added. "We only have these matches and then don't play again until September just before the World Cup.

"All our preparation is geared towards that World Cup and these are the conditions that will probably be the closest that we can get to playing in India. This is exactly the kind of challenge we need, with the World Cup not too far away we can test ourselves against conditions that we as a side find the hardest.

"It's going to be a great measure of where we are as a team." Since taking over as captain following Eoin Morgan's retirement, England have failed to win a single ODI series having suffered defeats to India, Australia and South Africa.

However, England did win the T20 World Cup last year and will go into the tournament as one of the favourites given their pedigree and the strength of their first-choice line-up, particularly if they can tempt Ben Stokes out of retirement.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.