Rehan Ahmed's India tour ends, spinner to return home due to personal reasons

Rehan Ahmed‘s maiden tour of India has come to a premature end as the England leg-spinner has returned home due to personal reasons. The ECB announced the news on Friday (February 23), the day the fourth Test between India and England got underway in Ranchi.

The ECB also announced that the young bowler will not be returning to India for the fifth and final Test, scheduled to be played on March 7 in Dharamsala. England have decided against announcing a replacement for Rehan Ahmed.

The 19-year-old, who made his Test debut in 2022, played in all three Tests of the series so far. He picked up 11 wickets in those three Tests including a match-haul of six wickets in the second game. However, he failed to retain his place in the England playing XI for the fourth Test which was announced on Thursday.

Also Read: Rishabh Pant to lead Delhi Capital from match 1 in IPL 2024, confirms Delhi Capitals co-owner

As per reports, the decision to leave out Rehan Ahmed from the playing XI was not related to him having to return home. The spinner learned about the family emergency only after the team was announced. He will be leaving India for the UK on Friday.

Take care, @RehanAhmed__16 ❤️

Rehan Ahmed will return home for personal reasons.

He will not be returning to India and we will not be naming a replacement.

🇮🇳 #INDvENG 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 #EnglandCricket pic.twitter.com/T7SgSLYDhp

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) February 23, 2024

Earlier on the tour, Rehan Ahmed had to face a visa issue while re-entering India after the short break in Abu Dhabi. With a gap of more than a week between the second and third Tests, the English team decided to leave India for a short break in Abu Dhabi.

However, Rehan Ahmed was detained at the airport in Rajkot due to  “paperwork discrepancies”. The matter was quickly resolved and he was allowed to play the third test.

Also Read: Yashasvi Jaiswal on the verge of breaking this legend’s record, needs only 139 runs to achieve massive feat

Rehan Ahmed’s replacement:

For the ongoing fourth Test, England have dropped Rehan Ahmed and have replaced him with Shoaib Bashir. Bashir made his Test debut during the second Test of the ongoing series before being dropped for the third Test. Left-arm spinner Tom Hartley, who made his debut in the first Test, is the other spinner in the England playing eleven.