Stuart Broad has hailed England's teenage sensation Rehan Ahmed after he was used as the 'nighthawk' following on from his history-making five wicket haul against Pakistan in Karachi.
The nighthawk is a role that has been designated for Broad in this new-look England Test team, which has enjoyed great success playing positive and aggressive cricket under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.
The nighthawk is England's twist on the traditional nightwatchman, a tailender promoted up the order towards the end of play in order to protect the frontline batters. England, however, want their nighthawk to go out and slog from ball one.
"He might get 30 off 10 balls or 0 from 1," Stokes explained in July. "We are looking at every situation we are going to find ourselves in and what the positive thing to do is.
"For example, we renamed what the nightwatchman is all about. We called it 'nighthawk. That was Broady. He was going out with half an hour left to play to try to literally slog."
While Broad never got the chance to fulfil the role over the summer, Ahmed was asked to do it in Karachi after Zak Crawley was dismissed for 41 with less than six overs remaining on day three.
His stay was short and sweet as he struck 10 off eight balls before getting bowled by Abrar Ahmed but Broad, who is watching at home on paternity leave, was full of praise for his efforts as he dubbed the teenager "NightHawk Jr".
"The definition of a nighthawk isn't about how many runs you put on the board, it's the style," Broad said on Sky Sports. "And he played two eye-catching strokes.
"Strike-rate above 100 that's a tick, getting out to a hack, that's a tick. So I'm very happy with his introduction to the nighthawk position."
Former England spinner Vic Marks even joked on BBC Test Match Special that Ahmed was the "true nighthawk", saying: "We say Stuart Broad is the nighthawk but he's never done it. There's only one true nighthawk and it's Rehan Ahmed. It's fantastic to see him play and this is the future."
