Rehan Ahmed celebrates after picking a wicket. (Courtesy: ECB/X)
Young England spinner Rehan Ahmed has matured as a spinner in Indian conditions. He has claimed eight wickets in two Tests, including six in the second Test against India in Vishakhapatnam. A part of his growth is credited to England captain Ben Stokes who has relied on him to provide breakthroughs and more importantly, displayed sensitivity towards his faith in the dressing room.
His faith is a part of his day-to-day life and more important than cricket. Under Stokes”s captaincy, Ahmed is allowed to practice his faith by taking days off from the odd training session to observe optional fasting days. It is the very least he can expect from his England compatriots and Rehan acknowledges how open he can be about it.
“Stokes is so good with that. I remember a time in Abu Dhabi where there was a team day out on a Friday. We had Friday prayers. Obviously me and Bash (Shoaib Bashir) were there. I messaged Wayno (Wayne Bentley), the team manager, asking if we could miss this day because we need to pray,” Rehan said.
“Stokes messaged me straight away and said: “Come to me whenever you want about this kind of stuff, I understand it fully”. And yes, he”s stuck by his word. Every time I pray he is so respectful, very understanding. Everyone is on this tour.”
Ahmed”s bowling routine on the Indian conditions has all been about adapting to the conditions. His most common way of dismissing the batters has been caught behind. And Stokes has used him at different situations, including as late in the game as the 61st over in the final innings of the last Test.
“I don”t think there”s many places where you can say leg-spin does very well,” he says. “I think it”s more about adapting as well as you can.
“I think I bowled a bit slow in the first Test. The batsmen had a lot of time to play more. So I tried to speed up a little bit but again, tried to keep it balanced as well. I think it”s more of a thinking game than anything. Not a skill thing. I think if you just keep it very simple, you”ll be all right.”
Ahmed is the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the ongoing five-Test series with eight scalps, behind Jasprit Bumrah, Tom Hartley, and Ravichandran Ashwin.
