Young England spinner Rehan Ahmed’s 2024 tour of India has been cut short as he returned home due to personal reasons. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed that Rehan left the tour on Day 1 of the fourth Test (Friday, February 23) at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi. The leg-spinner will not return for the remainder of the series, and England will not name a replacement for him.
“Rehan Ahmed will return home for personal reasons with immediate effect from England Men’s Test tour of India. He will not be returning to India. England will not be replacing Ahmed for the rest of the tour,” ECB said in a statement.
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
Rehan left out of England’s XI for 4th Test
Notably, Rehan, who was part of England’s Playing XI in the first three Tests, was left out of the team for the fourth Test. However, Ben Stokes‘ decision to drop Rehan is understood to have nothing to do with him having to return home. England announced their XI on Thursday and Rehan was present at their final training session that afternoon.
The 19-year-old picked up 11 wickets in the series at an average of 44, including a match-haul of 6 for 153 in Visakhapatnam. He was able to take only three wickets in the last match in Rajkot, where his side suffered a massive defeat of 434 runs.
Right-arm off-spinner Shoaib Basheer has replaced Rehan in England’s playing XI for the fourth Test. With Ahmed’s departure and the ECB not announcing a replacement, England’s squad for the final two Tests will consist of just 14 players.
Speaking at the toss, English skipper Stokes said: “We will bat first. 2-1 down, a bit more important in the context of the series, but every game is important. The first one hour will give us an idea about how the pitch will play, but it was always going to be a bat-first track. My bowling is coming off well, it’s been a long time coming. I’m happy with the way we’ve operated throughout the series and looking forward to more of the same.”
