In the final match of a three-game series against Pakistan, England's Rehan Ahmed secured a five-wicket haul in his very first Test. Aged 18 years and 126 days, he is now the youngest bowler in the history of men's Test cricket to achieve this feat on debut. He eclipsed the record previously set by Pat Cummins, who was 18 years and 193 days old during his 6/79 performance for Australia against South Africa back in 2011.
England’s spinner Rehan Ahmed registered a five-wicket haul on his Test debut in the final Test of the three-match series against Pakistan. At 18 years and 126 days, Rehan became the youngest bowler in men’s Test history to take a five-wicket haul on debut. The teenager surpassed the record held by Australian pacer Pat Cummins when he picked up his fifth wicket on Day 3 of the Karachi Test. Cummins was 18 years, and 193 days old when he recorded his bowling figures of 6/79 against South Africa back in 2011.
Pakistan seemed to be in a strong position thanks to a 110-run partnership between Saud Shakeel and captain Babar Azam. However, Rehan broke the deadlock and swung the game back to England, removing Azam (54), Shakeel (53), and Mohammad Rizwan (7) in quick succession over just six overs. It was a particularly surprising dismissal for Azam, who had just reached a milestone of 1,000 Test runs for the calendar year.
The young spinner continued his dominance by dismissing Agha Salman (21) and Mohammad Wasim (2), finishing the innings with 5/48. This effort helped England bowl Pakistan out for 216, setting a winning target of 167 to complete a series whitewash. With this performance, Rehan becomes the 53rd English bowler to take five wickets on debut, following in the footsteps of Will Jacks, who did the same earlier in the series.
What sets Rehan apart is his age, making him the youngest ever to reach this milestone on debut. He had already broken records by becoming England's youngest-ever Test debutant when he was first capped for this match. His rise follows a stellar performance at the ICC U19 World Cup earlier this year, where he was England's second-most successful bowler, claiming 12 wickets across four games with a sharp average of 12.58.
England's chase began strongly with a first-wicket partnership of 87 runs from Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley. However, Abrar Ahmed briefly halted their progress by dismissing Crawley (41) and Rehan (10) in back-to-back overs. As the day ended, England stood at 112/2, with Duckett unbeaten on 50 and captain Ben Stokes at 10. They now need only 55 more runs to achieve a historic first-ever home series whitewash against Pakistan.
Earlier in the day, the cricket world saw the end of an era as Azhar Ali, a pillar of Pakistan's top order with 7,142 runs over 97 Tests, finished his career. Unfortunately, it wasn't the fairy-tale exit he hoped for, as he was bowled for a duck by Jack Leach before leaving the field for the final time.