PAK vs ENG: "He Was Basically A Leg-Spinner Who Had A Good Googly; There Was No Real Mystery To It" - Ben Duckett On Abrar Ahmed

Pakistan leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed made an impressive debut with seven wickets in the first innings of the second Test at Multan on Friday, December 9. Ahmed shone for his home team, Sindh in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy last month and earned a place in the Test squad for the England series. Pakistan bowled out the visitors for 281 in their first innings thanks to his superb bowling.

The 24-year-old immediately made an impression, finishing the first session with a tally of 5/70. He began the day by dismissing Zak Crawley, then went on to dismiss Ben Duckett (63), Joe Root (8), Ollie Pope (60), and Harry Brook for his maiden five-for in Test cricket. Abrar finished with seven wickets, conceding 114 runs in 22 overs at an economy rate of more than five.

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He Just Bowled Some Nice Deliveries And Unfortunately For Us – Ben Duckett

England opener Ben Duckett describes Abrar Ahmed as a leg-spinner with a good googly, but feels that his bowling lacks mystery. Duckett believes England’s batters will attack the young slow bowler in the second innings.

“I can only talk individually and I obviously had my plans for him. He was basically a leg-spinner who had a good googly; there was no real mystery to it. He bowled beautifully today and I’m sure we’ll have our plans in the second innings – but I’m pretty sure that we won’t be blocking it,” Ben Duckett said.

“I think I swept about 90% [of the time] and when you’re sweeping, you don’t tend to necessarily look for it, but his googly was a lot slower. In general, most of the guys actually said they did pick him. I think he just bowled some nice deliveries and unfortunately for us, it was his day,” he added.

“There was limited footage, mainly on him bowling in the nets here, and not much to left-handers. Personally, I’d rather not know all of his tricks because I’d be worried and thinking about what he can do. I’d rather focus on what I can do to him.”

Duckett hammered 63 off 49 balls before falling to Pakistan’s debutant leg-spinner. He used sweeps and reverse sweeps against the youngster, but Abrar Ahmed had the final laugh. England were 117/1 at one point in their innings before collapsing to 167/5. However, make a strong comeback to finish at 281.

Also read: IND vs BAN: “It’s Not An Individual Game” – Yuzvendra Chahal Opens Up On Not Being Picked In India XI For ICC T20 World Cup 2022

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