Young England spinner Rehan Ahmed credited his team’s strong performance against the experienced Indian spinners in the first two Test matches to Ben Stokes' captaincy and the positive team atmosphere.
Despite being less experienced, England managed to outshine Indian spinners in the first two Tests of the ongoing five-match Test series, which is currently level at 1-1.
Notably, England’s trio of Ahmed, Tom Hartley, and Shoaib Bashir have collectively taken more wickets (33) than the renowned Indian spinners R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav (23) in the first two Tests.
Rehan Ahmed was quoted as saying by BBC: “That just shows how great the team environment is. 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.”
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Praising Stokes and Brendon McCullum, Ahmed further said: “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.”
Young spinner further revealed that he has no difficulty prioritizing his Friday prayers, even if it requires him to miss training sessions in the Bazball environment.
Rehan recalled, “I remember a time in Abu Dhabi where there was a team day out on a Friday. 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.”
He signed off by saying, “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)
