English spinner Rehan Ahmed denied Pakistan off-spinner Sajid Khan’s claims that he used Urdu to misdirect England players during the third Test. Khan became an absolute fan favourite in the ongoing Test series with his all tricks, including twirling moustache, thigh-five celebration and dismantling the English batting order time and again. Recently, he claimed that Pakistan used Urdu to fool England spinner Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed on Day 2 of the third Test in Rawalpindi.
The cricketer claimed that the hosts spoke loudly to communicate when they would discuss their plans in order to misguide the rivals. Notably, Shakeel and Sajid built a 72-run partnership for the ninth wicket to take the side’s score to 344 runs. While Shakeel contributed 134 runs, Sajid added 48 runs to the scoreboard. While batting, Sajid and Shakeel were heard talking very loudly about their strategies during the 86th over of the game. Later, Sajid revealed that the two were deliberately talking loudly to misguide the Englishmen.
He didn’t fool me: Rehan Ahmed denies Sajid Khan’s claims
Sajid Khan said, "We were only doing that [speaking loudly in Urdu] to deceive the bowlers. Rehan and Shoaib understand Urdu, so to fool them, we wanted them to hear we were only looking for the single. When we did that, they brought the field up and the bowlers flighted it. Saud told me once they do, no half measures: just go for the big shot as hard as you can.”
However, English spinner Rehan Ahmed rubbished all claims and said that Khan didn’t fool him, in fact he couldn’t even hear what they were talking about. “He didn’t fool me at all; he just said it for the media,” Rehan chuckled. “I didn’t even hear what he was saying. I knew he was going to try and scoop me, but it didn’t really work. He hit well, but he didn’t fool me or Bash,” said Ahmed.