Ahmed calls making England debuts in all formats a ‘dream come true’

Rehan Ahmed reflected on a winter that has been a ‘dream come true’ after becoming England’s youngest men’s cricketer across all three formats.

The 18-year-old may have been an unexpected selection forDecember’sTesttourofPakistanbuthewasnopassenger ashisseven-wicketmatchhaul inKarachihelpedEnglandseal a famous 3-0 clean sweep.

He has experienced the other side of the coin with the limited-overs teams in Bangladesh, losing in his only ODI appearanceandtwoT20s,but the leg-spinning all-rounder did not look out of place.

Ahmed’s only misstep was dropping a relatively simple catch at Dhaka as England crumbled to a 3-0 T20 series whitewashbuteventhatcould nottakethesheenoffwhathas been a remarkable past few months. “I don’t think even the Test match has sunk in yet,” Ahmed said. “To make my debuts in all three formats in such a short space of time is a dream come true.”

Ahmedhasbeentippedfor greatness ever since claiming thewicketsofSirAlastairCook and Ben Stokes in a Lord’s net after being invited to bowl to the England Test side just before his 12th birthday.

Despite his family being cricket-obsessed–withbrothers Raheem and Farhan also involved in the county pathway – Ahmed is a product of the T20 generation and was initially indifferent about the red-ball format.

But his mindset has flipped, especially after witnessing the Test revolution captain Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum are leading at close quarters.

“I used to see it as somethingthat’saboringgame,”he said. “But it’s a long game, it’s the hardest game. Now I see it as the most fun game.

“Test match was the highest level of pressure I’ve ever played in front of. That was a different type of intensity. One hundred per cent the joy I got from playing Test match andwinningwasunmatched. I don’t know if anything can match that.”

Sharing a dressing room with Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid comes close. While Kevin Pietersen was his favouriteplayer,Ahmedlooked uptotheveteranspinpairgiven their shared Pakistan ancestry.

“We always spoke about it: ‘Imagine if you played with Mo or Rash’,” Ahmed said. “And I’ve played with both of them! Whenever they played I made sure I watched.”