Rehan Ahmed, England’s 19-year old leg-spinning all-rounder, has left India for personal reasons.
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Ahmed played in the first three Tests of the series but was left out of the England XI for the fourth Test at Ranchi as England instead opted for the finger spin of Shoaib Bashir on a track that’s expected to be receptive to turn from the opening day.
Ahmed, who debuted as an 18-year-old on England’s tour of Pakistan last winter, took 11 wickets at 44 across his three appearances in the series. He claimed six wickets across the second Test in Vizag and was part of a crucial 64-run seventh-wicket stand with Ollie Pope in the second innings at Hyderabad, where England eventually won by 28 runs.
England have opted not to call up a replacement for Ahmed leaving Bashir and Tom Hartley as the only frontline spin options left in the squad. Jack Leach was previously ruled out of the tour ahead of the third Test at Rajkot; England declined to select a replacement for Leach on that occasion as well. England have further spin options within the squad in the form of Joe Root and Dan Lawrence, both of whom deliver more than serviceable off-spin.
The fifth Test will be held at Dharamshala, a venue that is set to be the most seamer friendly of the five grounds to host a Test this series.
Ahmed is the third England player to pull out of the tour. Harry Brook withdrew from the series before England landed in India for personal reasons himself while Leach’s participation in the series was restricted to a single appearance after he picked up an injury to his knee diving in the outfield in the series opener. Leach’s injury left England with an extraordinarily inexperienced group of spinners, with Ahmed, Hartley and Bashir boasting just one Test cap between them before the start of the tour.
