Following Rehan Ahmed's match-winning impact in England's final Super Eight T20 World Cup match against New Zealand, Mark Butcher has backed him to carve his own path in England's Test side should he get the opportunity.
Speaking on the Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast, Butcher praised Rehan's role in England's win over New Zealand. "He walks in in the situation where New Zealand are favourites to win the game, and within five or six deliveries the shoe is on the other foot, England are winning the game nine out of ten times in that scenario," said Butcher.
"Again, as it does with [Will] Jacks, it speaks to a mental capacity to be able to go out there and give your best when the pressure is at its highest. The more cricketers you have like that in short-form cricket the better. Sikandar Raza is another one who plays situation and scenarios brilliantly. All of these players have ability to hit the ball out of the park, and all of these guys have every stroke you could possibly imagine, but it's being able to deliver that when match scenarios dictate that it's absolutely necessary. To do that in his first World Cup game was absolutely astonishing. And the striking was so clean, and so impudent in a way."
Rehan replaced Jamie Overton in England's starting XI against New Zealand, on a spin-friendly wicket in Colombo. He took a wicket with his first ball in T20 World Cup cricket, with Rachin Ravindra spooning a googly to deep midwicket. He went on to return figures of 2-28 off three overs, but his more dramatic impact came late in the chase.
England still needed 43 runs to win off 19 balls when Rehan came out to bat at No.8. He smashed the second ball he faced for six off Glenn Phillips, and hit two boundaries off Mitchell Santner in the 19th over to leave the equation at five runs needed off the final over of the match. He finished unbeaten, having hit 19 runs off seven deliveries.
'His batting is more reliable than his bowling'
While Rehan has sporadically featured in England's white-ball sides since making his debut in 2023, his five Test caps have only come on tours to the subcontinent. He made his debut in Pakistan in 2022, and next played during England's tour of India in 2024. His most recent cap came on England's tour of Pakistan later that year.
"His batting is more reliable or stronger than his bowling," said Butcher. "And in a country where wicket-taking spin options are few and far between, he is somebody that when England tour in the sub-continent and you need two spinners and you need batting depth, he's a shoo-in pick. And when he gets older and more experienced with the ball, he will eventually become a genuine all-rounder...
"If you think back to the most famous Test match series in England for the last 20 years, the 2005 Ashes, and the way that England had four high quality pace bowlers and the left-arm spinner in Ashley Giles who held a bat very well down at No.8, caught in the gully and could go at 2 and a half an over for you. All the while that England's bowling attack is made up of Stokes batting in the top six as a seam-bowling option, plus three other quicks, that's the sort of spin bowler you need. You need someone who is going to be able to score you lower-order runs, but somebody who is going to be able to bowl enough overs, this is where the Rehan Ahmed question comes in."
Rehan had a successful County Championship campaign with the bat for Leicestershire last year, after he was moved up the order. He scored five centuries in Leicestershire's promotion-winning campaign, and also took two five-wicket hauls.
"There might come a scenario where England think to themselves, okay we do get through games very very quickly, we are still looking to score very, very fast, and therefore having someone who might bowl you 10 overs and might take three or four-for mopping up the tail is as much use to us as somebody who bowls more than that," said Butcher. "That's a tactical decision to be made on the reason that you're picking people. The issue you find yourself in is if you pick someone to do something that they cannot do.
"Those questions are for later on in the summer. But Rehan will only get better as a bowler, and as a cricketer he seems to be smart enough and clever enough to work out how best to find himself a spot and keep one should he get the option."
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
