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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Matthew Cooper

Rehan Ahmed's dad reduced to tears as England spinner takes five wickets on Test debut

Rehan Ahmed's dad, Naeem, was reduced to tears in the stands as he watched his son become the youngest ever cricketer to take a five wicket haul on Test debut at the tender age of 18 years and 126 days.

Ahmed picked up 5-48 in a game changing spell on day three as Pakistan collapsed from 164-3 to 216 all out, leaving England needing just 55 more runs to wrap up a remarkable 3-0 whitewash.

The youngster's five-for saw him break a record set by Australia captain Pat Cummins, who was 18 years and 196 days old when he took 6-79 against South Africa in 2011. It surprisingly took 41 overs for Ben Stokes to turn Ahmed on day three, but when he did the leg-spinner ripped through Pakistan to claim the wickets of Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Wasim and Agha Salman.

And when Salman was caught at short fine leg by Harry Brook after top edging a sweep shot, there were emotional scenes as Ahmed celebrated his record-breaking feat. While he received hearty congratulations from his teammates, his dad shed a few tears having earlier declared that watching his son be presented with his England cap to be the "best moment" of his life.

Reflecting on his heroics, Ahmed told BBC Test Match Special: "Probably the best day of my life again. To get five on my debut is a dream come true, it's great.

"I've bowled better balls and got wickets so just to get Babar Azam out is a dream come true. He's a very good player. Pope has got good hands so it's good the ball went to him.

Ahmed signs his name on the honours board in Karachi after becoming the youngest player to take a five-for on Test debut (Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)

"I liked Rizwan's wicket because I've been working on my leg spin for the last two years. To get one to spin on the other side was great."

Ahmed's performance was all the more impressive given the state of the game when he was given the ball, with Stuart Broad telling Sky Sports: "The best thing about it is that it was a game-changing five-for. The game was slowly moving towards Pakistan while Babar was going on or at least in the balance.

"He is obviously naturally talented and will grow his knowledge and experience by playing. He looks like he has so much skill in the locker already. He turns his leg-spinner a little bit and googly a lot. He is confident. He has a lot of attributes going his way."

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