Rehan Ahmed was thrown straight into the action on the morning of his Test debut as England had to work hard to take wickets with Pakistan reaching 117 for three at lunch on day one at Karachi.
Having been handed his cap by Nasser Hussain before receiving a warm hug from his father who was permitted to join the team huddle, he only had to wait until the 17th over to bowl his first ball in Test cricket.
Ollie Robinson had been forced to leave the field due to an upset stomach in the eighth over and only returned in the 24th, with England lacking options after selecting just three seamers, including captain Ben Stokes.
The tourists turned to spin early, with Jack Leach becoming the first England spinner to open the bowling in the first innings of a match since 1921, when Jack White did so against Australia at Headingley.
Leach was rewarded with an early breakthrough as the ball glanced off Abdullah Shafique’s pad, but the batter elected to review.
The decision was upheld with umpires call on impact, to leave Pakistan 18 for one having opted to bat first.
Shan Masood had been batting positively for his 30 from 36 balls including five boundaries, but was caught on the boundary off the bowling of Mark Wood as England claimed their second breakthrough.
The batter was already most of the way through the shot which was top-edged into the deep straight to Leach.
Robinson’s returned to the field led to a wicket on the stroke of lunch, with Azhar Ali caught behind by Ben Foakes for 45 on his final Test match for Pakistan.
England successfully overturned the on-field decision, which showed Azhar had gloved the ball, and the specialist wicketkeeper had taken a clean catch on his return to the side.
Babar Azam was left unbeaten on 30 at the interval, with his side 117 for three.
