PAK vs ENG 2022, 3rd Test: Rehan Ahmed set to play in Karachi Test, will be England’s youngest debutant

England teenager leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed will be debuting in the third and final Test against Pakistan in Karachi on Saturday, December 17th. At 18 years and 126 days, Rehan will surpass Brian Close (18 years and 149 days) as England's youngest male Test debutant. Other than him, England have also roped in keeper-batsman Ben Foakes in the XI, captain Ben Stokes has confirmed.

Rehan Ahmed was added to England’s squad for the pre-tour camp in Abu Dhabi. With Liam Livingstone getting ruled out of the ongoing series due to a knee injury, Rehan was left as the only leg-spinning option in the squad. Though he had come on as substitutes in the first two matches, the young all-rounder will making his Test debut at the National Stadium in Karachi.

Ahead of the third Test, Stokes in a presser talked about the changes to the squad and how excited are the team management and everyone in the camp is regarding Rehan’s debut.

"We've been thinking about it," Stokes said. "We can't go into too much detail until me and Baz [Brendon McCullum] have had a look at the wicket.

"When we spoke about having Rehan into the squad, it was more than just bringing him in and integrating him into the squad. We did speak about us having no issues with selecting him if we felt it was the right option. I don't think this is a case of, if he was to play, of giving caps away. We picked him in the squad not just because of his talent, but because we thought it would be a good opportunity to play if we thought it was necessary," Ben Stokes said.

Rehan came into limelight after a stunning Under-19 campaign in February earlier this year. He picked up 12 wickets and helped England reach the finals where they lost to India. Later, Rehan made his first-class debut in Division Two of the County Championship in May for Leicestershire and soon after he picked his maiden five-wicket haul and even scored a hundred against Derbyshire. Not only this, he even trained with England’s white-ball squad during their series with South Africa and India.

England are already leading the 3-match Test series 2-0 and will now aim to clean sweep Pakistan at their home for the first time.