Ben Stokes: “We are picking him but then there is a difference between picking him and playing him off the wicket. One thing you’ve got to give him credit for is the accuracy which he had”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
England Test captain Ben Stokes admitted he was in awe of Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed’s accuracy when bowling.
Abrar made his international debut in the three-Test series against England in December 2022 and had an immediate impact.
He took seven wickets in his very first innings and ended up finishing with 17 wickets in the two Tests he played at an average of 27.17.
While Stokes said that the England batsmen were able to pick what type of delivery the 24-year-old mystery spinner was going to bowl, he conceded that “playing him off the wicket” was a whole different story.
“We are picking him but then there is a difference between picking him and playing him off the wicket. One thing you’ve got to give him credit for is the accuracy which he had,” he was quoted as saying by Cricwick.
After the England series, Abrar continued to impress in the two Tests Pakistan played against New Zealand as he snapped up 11 wickets at an average of 43.63.
He will now represent Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), which will be played from February 13 to March 19 in Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi.
Islamabad United will begin their tournament against the Karachi Kings on February 16.
Islamabad United Squad for PSL 8: Alex Hales, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Azam Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Abrar Ahmed, Colin Munro, Paul Stirling, Rumman Raees, Sohaib Maqsood, Hassan Nawaz, Zeeshan Zamir, Moeen Ali and Mubasir Khan, Tom Curran, Zafar Gohar, Gus Atkinson and Tymal Mills