NEW DELHI: Young
Rehan Ahmed
credited
Ben Stokes
' leadership and the team atmosphere for England's unexpectedly good performance against their more experienced Indian spinners in the first two Test matches.
Surprisingly, spin is one area in which the tourists have prevailed across the five-match series, which is currently tied at one.
It is quite remarkable that the trio of Ahmed,
Tom Hartley
and
Shoaib Bashir
have taken more wickets (33) than the formidable group made up of titans such as
Ravichandran Ashwin
,
Ravindra Jadeja
,
Axar Patel
and
Kuldeep Yadav
(23).
"That just shows how great the team environment is," Ahmed, 19, was quoted as saying in BBC.
"Tommy and Bash, you've seen them come in and not be nervous and that's credit to the team.
"The environment and the leadership we have, it does make you kind of forget the players you are playing against - we just focus on what we need to do."
Even in terms of economy rate, the England spin attack is ahead of the Indians.
With Stokes and
Brendon McCullum
at the helm, Ahmed cuts a relaxed figure.
"They (Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum) just don't care about how bad things can go. It's always about what good you can get out of it.
"So if I bowl four bad balls and get a wicket, that's better than bowling 16 good balls in a row,"
Ahmed said
.
When he made his debut in December 2022 in Karachi at the age of eighteen and 126 days, he became the youngest player to play Test cricket for England. He announced his arrival with a five-wicket haul that turned the tide of the match in Pakistan's second innings.
Ahmed claims that Stokes' clever man-management abilities go beyond cricket.
Ahmed, a British Asian teenager who practices Islam in the Bazball environment, has no trouble taking time off for Friday prayers, even if it means skipping training.
"I remember a time in Abu Dhabi where there was a team day out on a Friday," said Ahmed.
"We had Friday prayers. Obviously me and Bash (Bashir) were there. I messaged Wayno (Wayne Bentley), the team manager, asking if we could miss this day because we needed to pray.
"Stokes messaged me straightaway 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."
(With PTI inputs)
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