Rehan Ahmed: England's 18-year-old spinner to enter Indian Premier League auction
- Published
Ahmed took seven wickets on his Test debut, including five in Pakistan's second innings
England's 18-year-old leg spinner Rehan Ahmed will follow up his sensational performance in the third Test against Pakistan by entering next week's Indian Premier League auction.
The teenager became England's youngest men's Test cricketer in the final Test against Pakistan this week.
His five-wicket haul in Pakistan's second innings in Karachi helped England to a historic 3-0 clean sweep.
Ahmed will join England captain Ben Stokes in Friday's auction.
According to the PA news agency, Ahmed's county Leicestershire had not expected him to take part in this year's tournament but support his decision.
Leicestershire have been working with the England and Wales Cricket Board to manage the exciting youngster's schedule over the past 12 months.
Several of Ahmed's red-ball team-mates will be in Friday's auction including Liam Livingstone - who also made his Test debut on the Pakistan tour - along with Stokes, Joe Root, Harry Brook and Mark Wood.
Ahmed's base price will be £50,000.
In total, 27 English players will be part of the auction, including several members of the side that won the Twenty20 World Cup in November.
Speaking to BBC's Test Match Special this week, England head coach Brendon McCullum said it would be "awesome" if Ahmed secured an IPL contract.
"Why not get an opportunity to go and play under different coaches and different captains and rub shoulders with different players and pick up those experiences?" said McCullum.
"What 18-year-old kid anywhere else in world cricket is going to get those chances? I think we should encourage it.
Ahmed has only played three first-class matches for his county, but impressed in the Vitality Blast and earned a deal in The Hundred with defending champions Southern Brave.
"He has a high ceiling in terms of skill level, a bit of X-factor and he has the potential to wow the world, which is pretty cool," added McCullum.
"We have to look after him, encourage him to get as much experience of conditions and franchise tournaments with different coaches and players, to give him more experience to allow that talent to come out."