Who is Abrar Ahmed, the Pakistan bowler who claimed a five-fer on Test debut against England?

Young Pakistan bowler Abrar Ahmed stunned England in the first session of play on Day 1 of the second Test in Multan on Friday, December 9. The visitors, who are 1-0 up in the three-match series, won the toss and decided to bat first. They were reduced to 180/5 in 33 overs by Lunch, with Abrar Ahmed taking all five wickets to fall.

Amazingly, the 24-year-old leg-spinner is making his debut Test. He broke England's stubborn opening partnership by cleaning up Zak Crawley (19) with a delivery that spun sharply and crashed through the batter’s defense.

Ben Duckett (63) and Ollie Pope (60) then added 79 runs for the second wicket. Abrar Ahmed once again gave Pakistan a much-needed breakthrough, trapping the dangerous-looking Duckett lbw.

Former England captain Joe Root (eight) also fell lbw to the leg-spinner, who went on to dismiss Pope and Harry Brook (nine) to complete a well-deserved five-fer on his Test debut.

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All you need to know about Abrar Ahmed

Born in Karachi in October 1998, Abrar Ahmed is the youngest among eight siblings - five brothers and three sisters. One of his brothers, Shahzad Khan, previously represented the National Bank as a pacer.

The young leg-spinner has played 14 first-class matches, 12 List A games, and 17 T20s so far. He has claimed 76 wickets in his first-class career at an average of 25.56 with seven five wicket-hauls. In List A cricket, the bowler has 17 scalps at an average of 25.70, while in the T20s, he has claimed 19 wickets at a strike rate of 19.8.

He made his first-class debut in November 2020, for Sindh against the Southern PNJ in 2020–21 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. He made his List A debut in November 2021 against Sri Lanka A.

Abrar Ahmed had a sensational 2022-23 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, where he was the leading wicket-taker, claiming 43 wickets for Sindh in seven matches at an average of 21.95.

He picked up as many as five five-fers and one 10-wicket match haul, paving the way for his inclusion in the Test team for the ongoing home series against England.