Rehan Ahmed in action© AFP
England on Tuesday picked Rehan Ahmed as a third slow bowler for the series-deciding final Test against Pakistan on a dry Rawalpindi pitch which is expected to take spin. The 20-year-old leg-spinner will form a three-pronged spin attack when the match begins Thursday alongside left-armer Jack Leach and off-break bowler Shoaib Bashir. The three-match series is level at 1-1 after England won the first Test by an innings and 47 runs in Multan. Pakistan used the same pitch for the second match which they won by 152 runs, with their spinners taking all 20 wickets.
Seam bowler Gus Atkinson was recalled with fast bowlers Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts dropping out of the side.
"There are two changes from the second Test in Multan with seamer Gus Atkinson returns and leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed is included," said an England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) statement.
Ahmed, who took five wickets on his Test debut in Karachi in England's thumping 3-0 sweep of Pakistan in 2022, is included for the first time since a Test against India in Rajkot earlier this year.
England's decision to bring in a third spinner is prompted by another grass-less pitch prepared at Rawalpindi with Pakistan deploying industrial-sized fans and patio heaters to dry the square.
England team for the third Test: Ben Stokes (captain), Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Gus Atkinson, Rehan Ahmed, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir