Pakistan cricket have always produced Mavericks who can change the course of the game . The likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq, inzamam Ul Haq are prime examples. More recently, Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi are the latest players who have helped put the Pakistani talents on the map.
The Pakistani team is currently hosting England for the first time in 17 years and they find themselves 1-0 down in the 3 match series. One of the most notable aspects of this Pakistani team is the number of young players who have made their way into the team . In this article we take a look at the two talents who are sparkling in the men in green set up
Abrar Ahmed - the leg spinning wizard -
Yasir Shah for a long time was seen a leg spin option. The 37 year old for a better part of the decade filled the loss of Danish Kaneria. Shah, was instrumental in spinning his side to wins. Yasir Shah is now out of the team after a few poor performances. Pakistan gave 24 year old leg spinner Abrar Ahmed his debut on Friday during the second test against England which was played at Multan.
The 24 year made an immediate impact as he got 5 wickets dismissing all the 5 English batters to have fallen before lunch. England at lunch were 180/5 from 33 overs. Abrar Ahmed had picked the wickets of Crawley, Duckett, Pope, Root and brook. He added the wicket of the English captain Ben Stokes after lunch.
Inspired spell on debut -
Abrar Ahmed showed he belonged to the big stage. This was the same batting line up which has scored 506 runs in the 75 overs of play on the first day of the first test at Rawalpindi. The English batters in a quest for quick runs lost the plot.
Initially, abrar Ahmed was taken for runs,but the tide turned when in an inspiring spell before lunch nipped 4 century makers from the last game. The youngster was overcome with joy as he ran arms aloft to celebrate the amazing feat he had created .
Making waves during PSL and injury break -
After playing the 2017 PSL and getting noticed by some of the big names including then coach Micky Arthur, the young leg spinner had to miss a few months of cricket due to injury. Once he came back there was no looking back as he picked wickets by the bundle even his coach said that when Abrar Ahmed is fit he is a player to watch out for specially with his ability to pick wickets from any situation despite which ever format of the game.
Making to the team after hard yards-
Mohammad Ali played the first test and was impressive in the overs he bowled 34 overs in all and picked 4/188. For anyone bowling 34 overs on the supposedly lifeless pitch might have been a task. For Mohammad Ali though it was a everyday chore.
Making his debut at 30, which is late by the subcontinent standards he was impressive with the ball. Mohammad Ali bowled with good speed on the docile Rawalpindi track. He even managed to touch the early 140 KPH in a game where both Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf was struggling. The fruits of all the hard work had paid fruit for the 30 year old.
Comparison with Jason Gillespie after late start -
It is astonishing to know that Mohammad Ali made his first first clas debut at the of 26. He also made his List A debut the same year before making his T20 debut this year. Ali Is likened yo former Australia pacer Jason Gillespie for his workhorse like tendency. The 30 year old can bowl long spells and has picked 89 domestic wickets so far.
The wickets though don't tell the exact story as they have all been achieved after long vigil and hard toil. He also has the ability to get reverse swing and keep constant pressure on the batter. In the first innings of the first test he picked 2/124 from his 24 overs while picking 2/64 in the ten overs he bowled in the second dig. If we look past the figures what we can see is the man who has done hard yards in domestic cricket has shown he can actually hang with the best of them