Series against England was a memorable one for me, says Abdur Rehman

Abdur Rehman, Pakistan’s left-arm spinner, has expressed that the series against England earlier this year was the most memorable encounter of his life and thanked his captain and the team management for giving him the confidence to deliver the goods.

The 32-year-old cricketer made his way to international cricket during the One Day International (ODI) series against West Indies at home in 2006. He made his Test debut a year later, picking up eight wickets in his very first match against South Africa at the National Stadium, Karachi.

However, the player from Sialkot was later dropped from the national side, with Pakistan having the services of some brilliant spinners like Danish Kaneria and Saeed Ajmal.

The wily bowler made a comeback in international cricket in 2010, and since then he has been a permanent member of the Test side, also serving the Green Shirts in limited-overs cricket, whenever required.

Having being dropped from the Pakistan team early in his career, the left-arm spinner explained while talking to Pakpassion, that he worked extremely hard on his game and is now happy to have put his career back on track.

"After being left out in 2007 I went back to domestic cricket and worked on my bowling, made some slight adjustments and thankfully I was selected again for Pakistan in 2010," he said.

With 19 wickets in the three-match series against the Poms, Abdur Rehman finished as the second-highest wicket-taker behind Ajmal, including a Player of the Match award in the second Test. Apart from his bowling, he has the ability to contribute with the bat as well.

Abdur Rehman further added that Misbah ul Haq, Pakistan’s captain, and the team management including the former coach, Mohsin Hasan Khan, boosted his morale before the battle, which brought out the best in him.

"Going into that series against England my captain, team mates, coach and the team management gave me a lot of confidence," he added. "They backed me so much and told me that I was going to play a key role in the series. What more can a bowler ask for than the full backing of his team mates, the coach and the team management."