James Vince on Rehan Ahmed: ‘You neglect his age … he is aware of what he is doing’
It was enterprise as regular within the last evaluation for Rehan Ahmed on Wednesday, as Southern Brave overcame Manchester Originals of their essential last group-stage encounter at Emirates Old Trafford, to e book themselves a rematch in Saturday’s Men’s Hundred Eliminator.
There they had been on the score-sheet: game-turning figures of 2 for 26 in 20 balls for Rehan, together with the vital scalp of England’s captain Jos Buttler, who was suckered right into a launch down long-on’s throat for 45 from 42 balls, simply when it appeared he was primed to unleash on the loss of life.
But, as Brave’s captain, James Vince, admitted on the eve of the Eliminator, Rehan’s efficiency on Wednesday evening had been considered one of two distinct halves. He opened his account with consecutive full-tosses from balls 26 and 27, then served up one other initially of his second set that was launched for six by Wayne Madsen.
Only some sharp fielding and poor shot choice prevented what Vince described as “probably 10 of [Rehan’s] worst balls” proving extra expensive than their eventual 17 runs. However, the truth that he then bounced again with ten of his greatest on the back-end of the innings was, Vince added, additional proof of his legspinner’s uncanny maturity.
“Rehan has bowled brilliantly all competition,” Vince stated. “He came back really strongly in the last game after a couple of average sets first-up, so it was great to see the way he bounced back and he’s been really reliable all tournament.
“To be trustworthy, you form of neglect his age,” Vince added, with Rehan having turned 19 earlier this month. “That’s all the way down to the way in which he’s across the group, the way in which he’s on the sphere. He’s actually above his years, and in case you did not know his age, you’ll simply say from the way in which he carries himself and the way in which he performs that he is in his mid-20s. So I believe he’ll develop and develop.”
It’s easy to get carried away with Rehan’s self-assurance. His back-story is by now well known – from being a net bowler with England at the age of 11, ahead of the 2016 Lord’s Test against Pakistan, to his Test debut against the same opponents in Karachi last winter, when he overtook Brian Close as the youngest men’s player in England’s history, and celebrated with a matchwinning five-wicket haul.
And, if the sense is growing that this is a player who relishes the big stage, then the closing weekend of the Men’s Hundred – including the prospect of a Lord’s final on Sunday – offers another key staging post in Rehan’s fast-tracked development.
“[It’s great] that he can have these experiences and to have performed worldwide cricket already,” Vince added. “With the obligations as legspinner, there’s no-one else that may actually decide up these overs in a recreation. It’s not like a batter who, if they do not carry out, another person can are available in and decide up their position. His position is particular and there is just one or two of these within the group, so he is actually very mature for his age.”
With that in mind, and with Southern Brave’s qualification hopes hinging on victory on Wednesday night, Vince admitted he had no qualms about trusting Rehan to raise his game at the crunch. First he returned for a tidy four-run set between balls 61 and 65, and then produced his decisive final burst from balls 81 to 85, which began with Paul Walter miscuing a googly into the covers before Buttler’s fateful hack off his penultimate delivery.
“As a captain, there’s solely a lot you’ll be able to say on the market to get behind the fellows,” Vince said. “He would not want a lot upkeep. He is aware of what he is doing. He’s obtained a giant backing of himself, which is massively necessary. He did not draw back, or concern going for extra runs. He nonetheless felt like he may have an effect on the sport, and he obtained two essential wickets in his final set of 5, which actually halted them on the finish.
“He wanted the ball – he wanted to bowl 10 in a row at one stage – so massive credit to him to have the confidence in his own ability to be able to turn it around. He realised that he didn’t get it quite right first-up, but that’s the first time in the whole tournament that that’s been the case. So the fact that he was still eager to bowl is great to have as a captain.”