You can see why Rehan Ahmed has missed playing for England.
The environment that has been curated under 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 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.
Ahmed finished with figures of 4-66 in Rawalpindi as the tourists bowled Pakistan out for 344 on day two of the third and final Test as the series hangs in the balance, 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 said on 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 also enjoyed plenty of success finishing with 3-129, including the prized scalp of Pakistan’s captain Shan Masood (26).
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 the Multan Test 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.
It was a similar story in Rawalpindi on day two.
When Pakistan’s centurion Saud Shakeel (134) and Sajid Khan (48no) shared a blistering 72-run stand for the ninth wicket they tricked Ahmed in Urdu.
“We know what 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 Khan said on Sky Sports Cricket.
The ploy certainly worked as Pakistan head into day three in a dominant position over England who are 24-3.
Earlier this year when Moeen Ali announced his retirement from cricketit left a hole in England’s side both from a talent perspective but also in terms of Muslim representation within the team.
However, even if England’s tour of Pakistan doesn’t bring them the success they may have been hoping for, it has provided plenty of evidence that the changing of the guard is in safe hands with Bashir and Rehan at the crease.
Atherton on the next generation of England bowlers
During the lunch interval 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 expected.
But beside them was England’s Under-19s leg-spinner Tazeem Ali who was taking tips from spin bowling coach Jeetan Patel.
During England’s tour of India, Atkinson toured the sub-continent for all five Tests but did not feature.
The point was for the Surrey quick to get an understanding for the way the team operates before he was handed his debut at Lord’s this summer, where he took a seven-for.
“I had a chat with the young man this morning, he’s an England Under-19s leg-spinner from Warwickshire, 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 sub-continent again in February 2027 to face Bangladesh, the Warwickshire bowler may well be part of that unit.
England’s deciding Test may hang in the balance after their top-order was rocked but their future pick of bowlers certainly does not.
Watch day three of the third Test between Pakistan and England in Rawalpindi, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event from 5.30am on Saturday, ahead of play starting from 5.43am. Stream with NOW
