Rehan Ahmed's dad, Naeem, knew his son was going to be "something special" from a young age and has reflected on his journey to the top after the leg-spinner became the youngest ever men's Test cricketer for England.
At 18 years and 126 days old, Ahmed broke a 73-year-old record held by the legendary Brian Close when he was handed his Test debut in the final game against Pakistan in Karachi. Naeem was invited to join the team huddle as Ahmed was presented with his England cap by Nasser Hussain.
Ahmed has been on England's radar long before his debut, having notably dismissed both Ben Stokes and Sir Alastair Cook in the nets when he was just 11 after receiving an invite from then MCC head coach Steve Kirby.
Two years later, Ahmed bowled in front of Shane Warne, the greatest leg-spinner of all time, in the nets at Lord's and earned some high praise from the Australian legend. In a clip that has now been widely shared, Warne tells a 13-year-old Ahmed: "That is awesome man!
"Really, really good, I am going to keep a close eye on you. I think we will be commentating on you very soon. I think you are going to be playing first class cricket by the age of 15!"
And Naeem reflected on that moment after watching his son make his England debut, telling BBC Test Match Special: "When he was eight or nine years old I could see as a cricketer he had something special.
"The way he trained and the way he was so excited to get to training that he would be ready to go half an hour before we had to. He'd be saying 'come on dad, I'm ready to go!' so that kind of thing excited me about him.
"When he bowled to Alastair Cook and the England players, that was when Shane Warne saw him as well and said a few things about him, and that really meant something serious to me.
"It made me think, 'wow, if Shane Warne thinks this, then yes he is going to be something special'."
