Urdu, prayer & grandma - Bashir & Ahmed in Pakistan

Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed will come together in the England team for the third and deciding Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi on Thursday.

Both men were born in the UK but have Pakistani heritage and family living in the country.

In a special interview with Test Match Special commentator Aatif Nawaz, himself a British-Pakistani, the spinners discuss speaking Urdu in the middle, Friday prayers with the Pakistan team and inclusion in the England dressing-room.

Bashir and Ahmed can speak Pothwari, the language of Mirpur, the city from where their families originate.

However, both have enough knowledge of Urdu to understand the conversations of the Pakistan team, which has been used by and against Bashir in the opening two Tests of the series.

Ahmed: “My Urdu is not too bad. It’s alright. I can try to hold a conversation, but it would be a bit mixed. I can understand everything.

Bashir: “I’m pretty similar. I can understand everything and I can reply, but it’s a bit broken. Sometimes the Pakistan team are speaking in their own language and we’re trying to get hints. I’ll go to Ben Stokes and say ‘he’s going to slog it over mid-wicket’.

“I went out to bat, Muhammad Rizwan was behind the stumps and he likes talking. As soon as I went out he said ‘this guy understands Urdu, lets speak Pashto’, and I had no idea what was being said.”

Off-spinner Bashir’s father was born in Pakistan and his mother in the UK. Both of leg-spinner Ahmed’s parents were born in Pakistan. His older brother Raheem has been on the books of Rehan’s county Leicestershire, while 16-year-old younger brother Farhan took 10 wickets on his first-class debut for Nottinghamshire in August.

Though Ahmed did not play in the first Test, when England piled on 823-7 declared, his father Naeem was at the game.

Bashir: "Obviously Pakistan is our heritage. I was born in England, so I’ve always been an England fan. Whenever Pakistan played India or whoever, I supported Pakistan. I loved watching the Ashes and highlights of England cricket. Pakistan was my second team."

Ahmed: “Growing up in England, England was my first team, but I do really like the Pakistan team and I used to watch them a lot. It’s my second home. My grandma and dad’s brothers all live here and I saw my grandma last night. I’ve got a big family here and it was nice to see them.

“In that first Test when we got 800 against Pakistan, my dad left the stadium and went back home, four hours away, because he couldn’t see his team getting anything.

“He tries to hide that he doesn’t care, but I can tell that he doesn’t want his team to lose. He always want us to do well, but he doesn’t want us to do that well where his team ends up losing."

Ahmed and Bashir are practising Muslims. Their rise to international cricket has come at a time of great turbulence for the game in England and Wales following a number of high-profile racism scandals and a report from the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket that determined discrimination is “widespread”.

Ahmed: “As young guys coming in to the changing room, there has never been a question about it with England. It’s a great thing and something we don’t take for granted. The lads have always been understanding. Baz, Stokesy and the management team have always put prayers and doing whatever we need to do first, then cricket comes after. We can’t ask for anything more. We’re forever grateful for that.

“We did Friday prayers with the Pakistan team. We went to their hotel and Rizwan led the prayer. The week before that we went to the Mosque. England rearranged the team meeting for a couple of hours to make sure we could do our prayers, then come back."

Bashir: “It’s a great gesture by the England team. We’re allowed to be ourselves, which is the main thing. That’s what gets the best out of us, it gives us confidence going into games. There has been a change in the way people look at things now. After these incidents, it’s a positive move going forward. Let’s hope it continues.”

When Ahmed made his Test debut in Pakistan in 2022, aged 18 years and 126 days, he became the youngest man to play Test cricket for England.

Bashir turned 21 last week. With 38 wickets from 11 Tests, he is on track to becoming the youngest man to take 50 Test wickets for England, beating the record of Steven Finn, who was 22 when he reached the landmark in 2011.

Bashir: “I want to be playing for England as long as possible. There will be ups and downs. Our faith teaches us that fate is already written. You just have to ride the wave."

Ahmed: “You don’t want to look too far ahead. You want to be a good person, give back to your community and give back to the team for what has been invested in you. As long as we can still keep trying our best, that’s all we can control. Whatever is written will happen and we will be happy either way.”

You can listen to the full interview on Test Match Special at tea on day one of the third Test, or as a podcast available here from Wednesday.