Rehan over the moon after making impressive debut

KARACHI: England’s rookie leggie Rehan Ahmed was extremely happy over making his Test debut at such a young age of 18.

Rehan claimed 2-89 in 22 overs to leave an early impression in the third Test against Pakistan here on Saturday.

“It was the best moment of my life when I was handed the Test cap and I cannot complain,” Rehan told a post-day news conference. “When I got the first over I saw it nicely and it was quite good. I saw the spin both ways and so it was excellent,” said the spinner, who has Pakistani roots. He said that it’s the best ever Test team (England) which has ever played. “It’s great to be part of it. It’s a big blessing to play Test cricket at such a young age,” said Rehan, who has played just three first-class matches and has also represented England in the Under-19 World Cup.

Rehan said that he believes in himself, adding he will try his level best to live up to the expectations and play a part in England’s success. He said that he was told by the seniors to keep it simple and had left everything to him and kept backing him during the entire day.

“And even at lunch they told me ‘well bowled’ and told me ‘it’s a great start to the day’ and keep the things in. And it helped me a lot and put a lot of confidence in me,” he said. Rehan bowled a fine googly and then scalped Saud Shakeel (23) with his next delivery which spun into the left-hander, held brilliantly by the silly mid-on fielder Ollie Pope who managed a one-handed diving catch and then trapped Faheem Ashraf lbw off just four to impress everyone.