England have confirmed 18-year-old leg spin bowler Rehan Ahmed has been included in the nation's squad for a three-Test tour of Pakistan during December.
The young gun has played just three first-class games for Leicestershire but has already made an impact, taking eight wickets in his last two innings, including his first five-wicket haul against Derbyshire, while he also cracked 122 with the bat in the game.
The bowling all-rounder has also managed seven one-day games and 19 T20s, and was once predicted for greatness by the late great Shane Warne.
The comments from Warne came when Ahmed was just 13.
"That's awesome man. Really really good," Warne said at the time to a then 13-year-old Ahmed.
"I'm going to keep a close eye on you. I think we will be commentating on you very soon.
"I think you could be playing first-class cricket by the age of 15."
This old video of Shane Warne telling a 13-year-old Rehan Ahmed that he'll be playing first-class cricket by 15 is really quite heartwarming.pic.twitter.com/K4uwxrqJ3r
— Yas Rana (@Yas_Wisden) November 24, 2022
Ahmed was originally left out of a 15-man Test squad that was picked in October, but then added to the touring party this week.
Director of cricket Rob Key said that was always the plan.
"The plan for Rehan was that we always looked to bring him into the squad," Key told ESPN CricInfo in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
"This is the best way to aid his development. He is a serious talent, but he might be four or five years off being the finished product. He is nowhere near the finished article at the moment.
"But we just hope that being involved with the Test squad, with McCullum and Stokes and the mentality they have ... bowling at Joe Root. He becomes a full member of that squad, he's not just a net bowler. If needed, we believe he can play and do a good job for us with bat and ball. It's a chance to put him on a path that will get the best out of him.
"Credit to the Test set-up, we feel that is the best group of people to aid his development and get him to where we think he can be quicker, by being involved with not just the captain or Brendon, but every one of those players has a part to play in his development."
Also in the squad is Liam Livingstone, who has now withdrawn from the Big Bash League after being the number one pick at the international player draft for the Melbourne Renegades earlier this year.
The first Test is scheduled to be played on December 1 in Rawalpindi, before the second and third Tests are played in Multan and Karachi.
If Ahmed makes his debut, he could become the youngest man to play a Test for England.
