Abrar Ahmed (born 16 October 1998) is a Pakistani

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er and

leg spin Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action. The leg spinner's normal delivery causes the ball to spin from right to left (from the bowler's perspective) when the ball bounces on the ...

bowler. Ahmed was called up to the Pakistan team in December 2022 for the series against England at home. On 9 December he made his

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

debut against England in the 2nd Test match of the series in

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the List ...

, where he took 7 wickets for 114 runs in England's first innings and 4 for 120 in the second for an 11-wicket haul in his maiden Test.

Personal life

Born in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

, Ahmed is the youngest among eight siblings (five brothers and three sisters), with his brother Shahzad Khan previously playing as a fast bowler for

National Bank In banking, the term national bank carries several meanings: * a bank owned by the state * an ordinary private bank which operates nationally (as opposed to regionally or locally or even internationally) * in the United States, an ordinary p ...

, and is a hafiz, having memorized the entire

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...

. He has cited his elder brother as the reason his talent was recognised early on in tape-ball cricket. Ahmed describes his mother and siblings as supportive from the beginning, but his father was eventually won over too and is now also supportive of his career. Upon being asked on his father's stance in a 2023 interview, he responded that his father is "very happy now". An ethnic

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

, his family moved to Karachi from

Shinkiari Shinkiari ( ps, شینکیارۍ; Hindko/Urdu: شنکیاری) is a Union Council of Mansehra District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is a major tea city with many tea gardens. The police station was established before the Pa ...

, a small village located on the outskirts of

Mansehra Mansehra is a city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and the headquarters of Mansehra District. It is the 71st largest city of Pakistan and 7th largest city in the province. The name of the city (written in Hindko, Urdu and Goj ...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

Domestic career

A product of the ''

Rashid Latif Rashid Latif (born 14 October 1968), is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer who played for the Pakistan national cricket team in Tests and One Day Internationals from 1992 to 2003 as a right-handed wicket-keeper batsman. He also serve ...

Academy'', he made his

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...

debut for

Karachi Kings Karachi Kings ( ur, ; sd, ڪراچي ڪنگز) (abbreviated as KK) is a Pakistani professional franchise Twenty20 cricket team that competes in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The team is based in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh, P ...

on 10 February 2017 in the

2017 Pakistan Super League The 2017 Pakistan Super League (also known as PSL 2 or, for sponsorship reasons, HBL PSL 2017), was the second season of the Pakistan Super League, a franchise Twenty20 cricket league established by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in 2016. On ...

. He made his first-class debut on 20 November 2020, for

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

, in the

2020–21 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy The 2020–21 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy was a first-class domestic cricket competition that took place in Karachi, Pakistan, from 25 October 2020 to 5 January 2021. Central Punjab cricket team were the defending champions. Central Punjab started thei ...

. In October 2021, he was named in the

Pakistan Shaheens The Pakistan A cricket team, or Pakistan Shaheens, is a national cricket team representing Pakistan. It is the second-tier of international Pakistan cricket, below the full Pakistan national cricket team. Matches played by Pakistan A are not cons ...

squad for their tour of Sri Lanka. He made his

List A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

debut on 11 November 2021, for the Pakistan Shaheens against the

Sri Lanka A cricket team The Sri Lanka A cricket team is a national cricket team representing Sri Lanka. It is the second-tier of international Sri Lankan cricket, below the full Sri Lanka national cricket team. Matches played by Sri Lanka A are not considered to be Test ...

. Abrar Ahmad was picked up by

Islamabad United Islamabad United ( ur, ) is a Pakistani professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). It was the inaugural champion of the Pakistan Super League. The team is based in Islamabad, the capital cit ...

at the draft for the PSL 2023. Former Pakistan Spinner,

Saeed Ajmal Saeed Ajmal SI ( Punjabi, ; born 14 October 1977) is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer, who played all forms of the game. He is a right-arm off-spin bowler who bats right handed. At domestic level in Pakistan he represented Fai ...

, praised Abrar Ahmad a lot at the draft ceremony.

International career

In December 2022, Ahmed made his debut for

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in the 2nd Test of the series against England. He became the first Pakistani bowler to take a 5-wicket haul in the first session on Test debut, taking 7 for 114 overall in the first innings and 4 for 120 in the second.See England’s first and second innings scoreboards at https://sports.ndtv.com/cricket/pak-vs-eng-scorecard-live-cricket-score-england-in-pakistan-3-test-series-2022-2nd-test-pken12092022215941 He also became the thirteenth Pakistani bowler to take five-wicket haul on Test debut. He was then named in the Pakistan squad for the Test series in the series against New Zealand, and in the first innings of the first Test he picked up another

5 wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Taki ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Abrar 1998 births Living people Pashtun people Pakistani cricketers Pakistan Test cricketers Karachi cricketers Karachi Whites cricketers Karachi Kings cricketers Sindh cricketers People from Mansehra District Cricketers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Peshawar Zalmi cricketers