Ahmed to become youngest man to play for England

Leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed will become the youngest man to play Test cricket for England after being handed a debut in the third Test against Pakistan.

Ahmed and wicketkeeper Ben Foakes come into the side in Karachi in place of pace bowler James Anderson and all-rounder Will Jacks.

England have already won the series and are looking for a 3-0 clean sweep.

No visiting team has ever beaten Pakistan 3-0 in their country, while England have only ever earned three previous clean sweeps in away Test series of three matches or more.

Leicestershire's Ahmed will be aged 18 years and 126 days when the Test begins on Saturday. Former captain Close was 18 years and 149 days when he played against New Zealand at Old Trafford 73 years ago.

He has been named in the England side despite leaving training early on Friday because he felt unwell.

Ahmed will not be the youngest person to play a Test for England - left-arm spinner Holly Colvin was 15 years and 336 days when she played for the women's team against Australia in 2005.

The Leicestershire man has played only three first-class matches, taking nine wickets at an average of 30. He was part of the England team that reached the final of the Under-19 World Cup this year and played for England Lions against the touring South Africans in the home summer.

He was then named in the England Lions squad for a training camp in the United Arab Emirates and added to the full squad during a warm-up game in Abu Dhabi in November.

Ahmed adds a second frontline spin-bowling option to the tourists' XI on a Karachi pitch that is expected to turn.

He considers himself to be a batter and made a century batting at number five for Leicestershire against Derbyshire in his last first-class match in September.

Meanwhile, former Pakistan captain Azhar Ali has announced he will retire from Test cricket after the final match of the series.

Azhar, 37, has played 96 Tests, scoring 7,097 runs - only four Pakistan batters have ever scored more.