Abrar Ahmed: Pakistan’s ‘mystery spinner’ who stunned England in the very first match
Pakistan’s ‘mystery spinner’ Abrar Ahmed, who started his career from the Multan Test match, has caused a stir by taking seven wickets in England. England, who won the first Test match, has been put in trouble by Abrar by trapping him in his googly.
Abrar Ahmed has become the third Pakistani bowler to take seven wickets in his first match.
As soon as Pakistan’s team for the Test series against England was announced, Abrar Ahmed became a topic of discussion. The reason for this is that he is not a traditional spinner but he can do leg break googly as well as carrom ball.
Abrar Ahmed defeated England’s top five batsmen in the first innings of the Multan Test with his mysterious spin, especially the carrom ball and continued to bowl with his length despite the counter-aggressive batting.
Earlier, England defeated Pakistan in the Rawalpindi Test. Abrar Ahmed was not included in the playing eleven of this test, for which Pakistan’s team management was criticized.
Abrar Ahmed had made his mark in Pakistan’s domestic cricket even before he played his toss against England. This year, he took 43 wickets in Pakistan’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, which is the most wickets of any bowler this year. On the strength of this performance, he was included in the Pakistan cricket team.
When Pakistan’s bowling coach Saqlain Mushtaq was asked about keeping Abrar Ahmed out, he explained the reason for keeping Zahid Mahmood in his place in the team. Mustaq said that we wanted to do justice, on one side there was a boy (Zahid) who has been with the team for a year and came close to playing many times but did not get a chance. We gave him a chance first.
Saqlain Mushtaq said that Abrar Ahmed had performed well in domestic cricket but another bowler was waiting for a year. We did not want to give priority to anyone by breaking the line. Zahid was already in the waiting list so we selected him in the first match.
Abrar Ahmed hunted England’s batsmen on the pitch of Multan who created a sensation in Rawalpindi. The top five batsmen dismissed by Abrar include Zac Crowley, Joe Root, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope and Harry Brook. All of them, except Joe Root, scored a century in the Rawalpindi Test.
Pakistan fast bowler Yasir Shah is out of form. In such a situation, the Pakistan team made a new strategy by including Noman Ali and Abrar Ahmed and other spinners in the team. Abrar’s bowling has certainly given relief to the Pakistan team at such a time.
24-year-old Abrar Ahmed’s father hails from Manshera, Pakistan, while his mother hails from Lahore.
Abrar’s father works in transport and his family has been living in Karachi for a long time.
Abrar Ahmed was born in Karachi and he started playing cricket with a tennis ball in his childhood. He was famous as a cricketer in Jahangir Road area of Karachi.
Speaking to the BBC, Abrar Ahmed says, “I was very naughty as a child. Being the youngest in the house has its advantages but also its disadvantages. If one brother did something, the other brother had to do it, but I He used to put Ammi forward to defend himself.”
Abrar Ahmed explains, “My elder brothers were fond of playing cricket. They used to go to Nashtar Park and other grounds to play. I used to sit there and watch them play.”
“Then came the time when I played and my brothers watched.”
Like many other cricketers of Karachi, the influence of coach Mohammad Masroor can be seen in the early career of Abrar Ahmed. Masroor saw Abrar’s hidden talent and gave him a chance to play.
At the behest of Mohammad Masroor, Rashid Latif included Abrar Ahmed in his cricket academy.
Abrar Ahmed says, “I had heard that when you go and play in an academy, you have to pay fees etc. But my bowling at the district level was so good that there were three or four cricketers including me at that time who were called Rashid. Latif Academy used to get Rs 7,000 for playing cricket every month.”
The cousins celebrated the father
Abrar Ahmed explains, “Well, my elder brother also played cricket and I was also very fond of it, but my father wanted me to focus on studies, but I wanted to do something in cricket.”
“When my name came up in the district team, I asked my cousin Shafiq to talk to my father to allow me to play. The most important moment of my career was when my cousin convinced my father. ”
“He told my father to give Abrar a year and if he does something during this time, then fine, otherwise he will do as you say.”
The common opinion about Abrar Ahmed was that he can be successful in limited over cricket only, but it was coach Masroor who was sure that Abrar Ahmed can be successful in red ball cricket as well.
A Karachi selector was apprehensive about giving chance to Abrar Ahmed and he contacted Rashid Latif and his reply was that what Mohammad Mahsaroor is saying is correct. Finally, he managed to make a place in red ball cricket as well.
