The Leicestershire allrounder impressed on his first day as England's youngest male Test cricketer, taking two wickets on Saturday
"Bowl a googly, bowl a leg-spinner, hope he nicks it" – Rehan Ahmed's modus operandi for his first Test wicket, the same two-card trick he has grown up using against his older brother.
Rehan forced Saud Shakeel to play and miss with a beautiful googly that turned sharply in the seventh over of his Test debut, before deceiving the left-hander with the next delivery, which landed in the same area but was a traditional leg-break and took his inside edge, looping up for Ollie Pope to catch brilliantly at short leg.
The Leicestershire allrounder told Sky Sports afterwards that he was particularly comfortable in bowling at left-handers because his older brother, Raheem, who has played some second-team cricket for the county, also bats left-handed. And so, his maiden Test scalp was effectively devised in the back garden.
"I've been bowling at left-handers all my life," he said, "and that's what I always do to him: bowl a googly, bowl a leg-spinner, hope he nicks it."
He used his googly, which spins more than his leg-break, again to trap Faheem Ashraf – another left-hander – on the back leg for his second wicket, a fine delivery that pitched around middle stump and straightened to pass Ashraf's outside edge.
Rehan was mobbed after taking his first Test wicket (Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
Rehan explained that when he first took up wrist spin, he hadn't been able to bowl the leg-break, and so had relied on his googly as a more natural delivery, while working to improve his stock ball with England spin bowling coach Jeetan Patel.
"When I first started bowling leg-spin, I could only bowl googlies," he said. "The leg-spinner was the other art that I had to learn, so I'm still in the process of it. I just love bowling the googly – it's a great wicket-taking opportunity."
He added that he hadn't slept or eaten on Friday, partially because he was under the weather but also because of the excitement at surpassing Brian Close to become England's youngest male Test cricketer.
"I just take everything for itself, so I didn't expect myself to play," said Rehan. "I just came to get better, and they gave me a chance."
Rehan and father Naeem embrace after the cap presentation (Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
His father, Naeem, was invited to join the team in the pre-match cap presentation huddle, with Nasser Hussain giving a speech before father and son embraced.
"He's put a lot of hard work in me, my whole family have," said Rehan. "It was good for all of us, not just me. He was huge. We just love the sport. He just backed us all the way – late nights, early mornings, he was always there."
He admitted to being nervous ahead of his first spell, adding that he "rushed a little bit, but it came out better than I expected it to".
"I know I got hit for a couple of boundaries, but Stokesy was like: 'I don't care about the runs, just get me a wicket.' In the second spell, I just forgot about the runs and wanted to take wickets, and it happened."
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