The dream for every debutant in cricket is to do well right from the word go and make good impressions. Pakistan’s latest spin sensation Abrar Ahmed, who debuted against England in the ongoing Multan Test, had the same experience when he came to bowl his maiden over in the longest format.
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam gave the eighth over of England’s first innings to Abrar, and on the fifth delivery, the leg-spinner bowled an absolute beauty to dismiss opener Zak Crawley. Abrar went for the googly, which was perfectly pitched.
Crawley got forward to defend and ended up leaving a big gap between bat and pad. The batter was completely deceived as he did not pick the googly at all, and the red cherry pierced the defences and shattered the stumps.
Here is the video:
What a ball to get your first Test wicket! 👏
Immediate impact by Abrar Ahmed 🎯#PAKvENG | #UKSePK pic.twitter.com/8tvnuGFzyo
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) December 9, 2022
Abrar, who hails from Shinkiari – a small village on the outskirts of Mansehra near Abbottabad – was picked in the XI alongside Mohammad Nawaz and Faheem Ashraf, replacing Azhar Ali, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf.
Abrar has an impressive record in first-class cricket, where the leggy has played 14 matches and taken 76 wickets at an average of 25.56 with two 10-wicket hauls and seven 5-wicket hauls. He has appeared in 12 List-A games and has picked up 17 scalps at an average of 25.70. When it comes to the shortest format, Abrar has 19 wickets to his name in 17 T20s, with 3/14 being his best.
Earlier, England captain Ben Stokes admitted that he was unsure what to expect from the Multan playing surface but hoped to see his side offer the same brand of attacking cricket like in the first Test.
“I don’t think we can read into it (the pitch) too much. We’ll have to wait it see what it offers in the first hour of cricket, but hopefully, we can go out and set the same benchmark as we did in the first Test with the bat. Going out and playing some exciting, positive cricket is what we’re all about, so we’re looking forward to getting going,” said Stokes, as quoted by SkyCricket.
