MULTAN: Pakistan’s mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed, who made headlines in his dream Test debut; picking up seven wickets — five of which came in the first session — chose Ben Stokes’ wicket as his favourite.
Abrar, while talking at the post-match press conference after the conclusion of Day 1 of the ongoing Multan Test responded to a question regarding his favourite wicket among the seven wickets he took in his debut Test.
“As I said before making my debut, Joe Root and Ben Stokes’ wicket would be my favourite and by the will of almighty Allah, I was able to achieve it,” said Abrar.
“Meanwhile, I can not describe my happiness in words,” he maintained.
Regarding his goal for the second innings, Abrar shared that he is eyeing to take another five-fer in the second innings.
“Yes, I have a goal for the second innings and that is to take another five-fer and with my performance, my team wins,” Abrar stated.
“International cricket is a bit different but if you keep hitting good areas, it would eventually reward you in the form of wickets,” he maintained.
The debutant then went on to respond to a question regarding how former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed gave him confidence in first-class cricket and stated that the latter has always motivated him.
“Yeah, I have a really good relationship with Saifi bhai, he’s really close to me. So, he was guiding me that whenever I will play, I should not get nervous and perform the way I did for Sindh,” shared Abrar.
It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan skipper Babar Azam raised a valiant half-century to anchor Pakistan to 107/2 at the stumps on the opening day after Abrar stormed through the English batting line-up, who claimed his maiden five-wicket haul and played a significant role in restricting England to 281.
READ: Babar, Saud solid after debutant Abrar cracks England on Day 1 in Multan