Who is Abrar Ahmed: A Mystery Spinner who scalped seven wickets on his Test Debut

PAK vs ENG Test Series is grabbing the eyeballs for several reasons & the ongoing Multan test is no different. After suffering a humiliating 74-run defeat in the Rawalpindi Test at the hands of ‘The Bazball team’ Pakistan made a note of rectifying all their mistakes in the second Test. Keeping in mind Multan’s spin-friendly pitch Pakistan handed a debut to mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed. And management’s decision of bringing in newbie Abrar for the second Test proved fruitful for the hosts as the terrific spinner grabbed the limelight by scalping seven crucial wickets right on the first day of the Multan Test to wrap England’s innings at 281 runs.

Pakistan which has produced legendary spinners such as Abdul Qadir, Mushtaq Ahmed & Saqlain Mushtaq has added one more name to the list by handing Test Cap to debutant Abrar Ahmed. The 24-year-old mystery spinner made his presence felt on his debut fixture by scalping seven wickets for England’s team & wrapping their innings at 281 runs on the first day of the Multan Test.

He scalped seven wickets for 114 runs in 22 overs by dismissing Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Ollie Pope, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook & Will Jacks while the last three wickets were scalped by Zahid Mahmood. Abrar’s seven-wicket haul helped Pakistan to wrap up England’s innings for just 281 runs. For England, Duckett & Pope played valorous knocks of 63 & 60 to help England to end their innings at 281 runs.

Less Known Facts about Abrar Ahmed

• Abrar is Pakistan’s only modern mystery spinner who is a leg-break bowler who can bowl a googly & create spin through fingers.
• Nicknamed ‘Harry Potter’ by his friends, Abrar comes from a small village known as Shinkari on the outskirts of Mansehra near Abbottabad.
• Abrar Ahmed turned into a skilled cricketer by playing tape ball. He further polished his bowling skills at the Rashid Latif Academy under the eyes of Muhammad Masroor who is Karachi’s renowned coach.
• The modern mystery spinner caught the attention of local coaches when he helped Zone 3 in Karachi to win the local title for the first time by scalping 53 wickets in 2016.
• Abrar Ahmed broke into the International arena on the basis of his blistering performance in the Quaid-E-Azam Trophy 2022-23 where he scalped 43 wickets at a strike rate of 21.95. He scalped five wickets in seven matches which helped him to earn a place in the National Test squad.
• He became the third bowler to scalp seven wickets on Test debut for Pakistan. Mohammad Zahid & Mohammad Nazir are the other two on the list.