Pakistan vs England: Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed not only bring talent but provide vital representation

cricket Tuesday 29 October 2024 06:24, UK

You can see why Rehan Ahmed has missed playing for England.

The environment that has been curated under Test captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum has made playing for England enjoyable, enticing and inclusive.

When Ahmed last toured Pakistan in 2022, he took a five-wicket haul on debut in the final Test in Karachi with his dad and coach in the stands cheering him on.

This time around, after having not played for England for eight months, it was a similar story - even if the result wasn't the same, England succumbing to a 2-1 series defeat as opposed to clinching a 3-0 whitewash on that trip two years ago.

Ahmed finished with figures of 4-66 in Rawalpindi as the tourists bowled Pakistan out for 344 in the first innings of the series decider, with his dad in the crowd cheering every wicket animatedly once again.

"It was a little bit challenging but I enjoyed every single minute and that is what helped me a lot," Ahmed told Sky Sports Cricket.

"I've missed playing for England, I haven't played much, not at all since India. I enjoyed every single moment, so that made it very easy for me."

Ahmed's off-spinning counterpart Shoaib Bashir pitched in with three wickets, the 21-year-old only improving as the tour went on - eight of his nine wickets coming in the final two Tests.

It is clear that England are committed to nurturing Bashir and Rehan, with talk already being around their potential Ashes involvement in 2025-26.

And this is important on different levels.

Two young South Asian boys being at the forefront of England's attack is empowering and inspiring for communities that were sidelined by the sport three years ago when the Yorkshire racism scandal broke.

It shows things are changing, albeit slowly, but the game is moving in the right direction.

This is magnified too by the conversations and changes that are happening within the England dressing room.

Ahmed and Bashir were invited to jummah (Friday prayers) by the Pakistan team in Multan, with Stokes pausing the team meeting for a couple of hours to allow the pair to perform their religious duties.

"It's a great gesture by the England cricket team. We're allowed to be ourselves which is the main thing and that's what gets the best out of us, knowing we can be ourselves," Bashir said on BBC Test Match Special.

Ahmed added: "We can't ask for anything more."

An element of Bazball that Stokes, McCullum and England pride themselves on is players having the freedom to be who they are, and the ease with which Bashir and Ahmed have slotted into the Test fold is an example of the successful leadership they're under.

During series, when Bashir arrived at the crease, Pakistan's wicketkeeper Muhammad Rizwan told his team to switch from speaking in Urdu to Pashto, so the Somerset spinner wouldn't understand what they were saying.

In Rawalpindi, Saud Shakeel and Sajid Khan shared a blistering 72-run stand for the ninth wicket, during which they tricked Ahmed in Urdu.

"We know that Bashir and Rehan both understand Urdu, so we said we would only take a single off Rehan and he then fired in a flatter delivery which I was able to smash around," Sajid told Sky Sports Cricket.

Earlier this year, when Moeen Ali announced his retirement from cricket, it left a hole in England's side both from a talent perspective but also in terms of Muslim representation within the team.

However, even though England's tour of Pakistan didn't bring them the success they may have been hoping for, there has been enough evidence of a changing of the guard with Bashir and Rehan as part of the set up.

During the lunch interval on day two of the third and final Test in Rawalpindi, there was a curious sight on the outfield.

Chris Woakes, Matthew Potts and Olly Stone were working with former England quick James Anderson on their bowling, as would be expected But beside them was England Under-19 leg-spinner Tazeem Ali, who was taking tips from spin bowling coach Jeetan Patel.

"I had a chat with the young man this morning. He's got family in Lahore which is why he is over here," said Sky Sports' Michael Atherton.

"He was in Multan as well and practiced with England there and they've probably arranged it to get him to work with Jeetan Patel and get a sense of what it's like in the dressing room.

"I can remember when I was captain, we did something similar with Owais Shah, he was only 17-years-old at the time, and you just give these lads a sense of what it's like because you hope it inspires them to get there.

"He's a young player of tremendous potential and he gives it a real flick."

A few years ago it was Ahmed in Tazeem's position and when England eventually tour the subcontinent again in February 2027 to face Bangladesh, the Warwickshire bowler may well be part of that unit.