After a dizzying first day of this series finale in Karachi, the true balance of power was yet to reveal itself. But those present in the ground, or watching back at home, were left in no doubt as to the headline act, young Rehan Ahmed having not just survived his first day in the whites of England but positively thrived.
It started with a kiss, Ahmed embraced by his father, Naeem, after receiving his cap and with it, at the age of 18 years and 126 days, becoming England’s youngest Test cricketer. But this fairytale in the city of lights did not end there, the leg-spinner’s two for 89 from 22 overs underlining the potential Shane Warne once purred about when, aged 11, Ahmed winkled out Alastair Cook and Ben Stokes in the nets at Lord’s.
