Last December, the punt was on Rehan Ahmed. Just 18 years old, the precocious leg-spinner was handed a debut against Pakistan in Karachi and the results were immediate: a five-wicket haul for England’s youngest men’s Test cricketer. It was stirring stuff, but also entirely in keeping with Ahmed’s progression.
He had already been picked out as something special by Shane Warne as a youngster, bowled England’s under‑19s to a World Cup final, netted with the seniors, landed a Hundred contract and been projected as a future star. Higher honours seemed likely for the prodigy from well before his first call-up.
