Rehan Ahmed's strong Test debut for England was aided by Ben Stokes' low-stakes approach to his captaincy, believes Stuart Broad.

The 18-year-old became the country's youngest male red-ball debutant, eclipsing Brian Close's 70-year-plus record, after making his bow against Pakistan in Karachi on Saturday.

In the third and final match of England's tour, Ahmed posted figures of 2-89, with only Jack Leach bowling more overs than the spinner as they skittled the hosts for 304 all out.

Broad, who has sat out the trip to Pakistan, suggested the teenager was able to play without pressure thanks to Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum's aggressive style to long-form cricket, crediting their impact as key.

"Leg-spinners can offer such variety," he told Sky Sports. "The bowling deserves a lot of credit.

"With Brendon and Stoksey, the mindset is nothing about run rate and as a young leg spinner, imagine what a mindset that is.

"He wouldn't have felt judged or under pressure; all they are saying is get us that one wicket to open the game up for us. The mindset played beautifully into his hands."

England are looking to seal a clean sweep after winning their first two games, and Ahmed is likely set to play a major part in helping to restrict Pakistan's second innings.

Former captain Michael Atherton believes Ahmed can stake a claim to be a long-term part of Stokes' plans, highlighting his improvement across his spells on the first day.

"We can all imagine what he was feeling at the end of his mark, but he quickly settled and got better," he added. "Temperament is the big thing, and he looks temperamentally sound."

Rehan Ahmed said his Test debut for England was the best day of his life, after he took two wickets against Pakistan.

Ahmed became England's youngest men's Test player when he started against Pakistan at the National Stadium in Karachi on Saturday.

With England having won the three-match series already, captain Ben Stokes handed the 18-year-old all-rounder a chance to shine.

Ahmed did not disappoint, finishing with figures of 2-89 as Pakistan were bowled out for 304 on day one.

"It was the best day of my life," the teenager told Sky Sports.

"I couldn't have asked for more and it is the biggest blessing sent down to me. I didn't expect to play.

"I just came on this tour to get better but they've given me a chance to play.

"I believe in myself and I've been given the opportunity so I just tried my best. I didn't sleep at all last night. I was very nervous before the first ball but the whole day was good. I felt more relaxed as the day went on."

Ahmed took his first wicket when Ollie Pope caught Saud Shakeel at short leg, and his second came with a brilliant googly that pinned Faheem Ashraf leg before wicket.

It was a day for the spinners, with Jack Leach taking 4-140, while Babar Azam was run out for 78 during one of Ahmed's overs.

England did lose Zak Crawley for a duck late in the final session, with the tourists reaching stumps on 7-1.

England youngest men's Test debutant Rehan Amhed took two wickets as Ben Stokes' team enjoyed a strong start against Pakistan.

Ahmed made history on Saturday, becoming the youngest male player to make his Test bow for England, at the age of 18 years and 126 days.

The leg-spinning all-rounder had a day to remember at the National Stadium in Karachi, in the third and final Test of a series England have already won.

Ahmed's fellow spinner Jack Leach (4-140) made early inroads for England, dismissing Abdullah Shafique before taking a catch to send Shan Masood packing.

Babar Azam (78) and Azhar Ali (45) guided Pakistan above 100, but Ollie Robinson had the latter walking back to the dressing room after a review showed an edge through to Ben Foakes.

Ahmed's first wicket came next – Ollie Pope lunging forward at short leg after Saud Shakeel edged onto his pad.

The teenager was involved again when the key wicket of Babar fell in one of his overs, Pakistan's captain being made to pay for hesitating when Foakes swept off the bails from Harry Brook's throw.

A superb googly saw Ahmed collect his second wicket, with Faheem Ashraf pinned leg before wicket, paving the way for Leach to round matters off and have Pakistan all out for 304.

Zak Crawley failed to survive the first over of England's innings, Abrar Ahmed's excellent delivery doing for the opener, but Ben Duckett and Pope ensured no further loss as the tourists reached stumps at 7-1.

Ahmed delivers on debut

There has been plenty of focus on history-making Ahmed ahead of this Test, with Stokes able to afford the youngster a chance with the series already wrapped up.

Ahmed did not let anybody down, however, and finished with final figures of 2-89 on a day for the spinners in Karachi.

Captain's knock from Babar

Pakistan might well have been looking down the barrel of a series whitewash already if not for their skipper, whose 78 came from 123 deliveries and included nine boundaries.

He was ably supported by Agha Salman (56), who succumbed to a Leach delivery late in the innings.

Despite Zakir Hasan's century, India need just four wickets on the final day to beat Bangladesh in Chattogram.

Axar Patel struck three times to leave hosts Bangladesh on 272-6 at the end of day four of the first Test.

Chasing a huge target of 513 at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium after tons from India's Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara, Bangladesh reached the end of day three with 42 runs on the board for no loss.

That stubborn resilience continued on Saturday as they made it to 124-0, before Najmul Hossain Shanto (67) was finally removed by Umesh Yadav early in the second session.

Yasir Ali was swiftly dismissed after facing just 12 deliveries, Axar picking up the first of his three wickets.

Zakir watched another of his partners fall when Litton Das (19) sent a Kuldeep Yadav googly into the waiting hands of Umesh at long-on.

The 24-year-old reached his debut hundred with a smart sweep for four, but an inside edge to Virat Kohli from Ravichandran Ashwin's full ball saw Zakir's stand come to an end.

Bangladesh's slim chances of victory were further dashed by a brilliant over from Axar.

The left-arm spinner first took out Mushfiqur Rahim's off stump before luring Nurul Hasan out of his crease, allowing Rishabh Pant to smash off the bails.

Axar finished day four with figures of 3-50 off 27 overs, with Bangladesh needing 241 runs from the final day for an unlikely victory, with captain Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz at the crease.

Axar the pick of the bunch

Axar was the only India bowler to take more than one wicket, including those two in a superb 88th over of the innings.

He went for just 1.85 runs an over and is sure to play an important role on day five.

Zakir stars for hosts on debut

In his maiden Test for Bangladesh, Zakir was the man who kept the very slim possibility of a win for the hosts alive.

Bangladesh frustrated India in the first session, with Zakir's steady hands guiding them to 119-0 by the end of the first session.

While his team's innings eventually started to crumble around him, Zakir dug in to reach a memorable 100, which included 14 boundaries (13 fours, one six).

South Africa were bowled out for less than 200 for the fifth successive Test innings, before an unbeaten 78 from Travis Head helped put Australia in a strong position in the first Test at The Gabba.

Dean Elgar's team were torn apart by Australia's bowling attack on day one as the Proteas were dismissed inside 50 overs for just 152.

The hosts also wobbled initially on a fast pitch, but Head and Steve Smith (36) steadied the ship from 27-3, though a couple of late wickets gave South Africa some hope of getting back into the game.

A tentative start from the tourists saw them reduced to 27-4, and things could have been significantly worse had it not been for a partnership of 98 between Temba Bavuma and Kyle Verreyne, before the former was bowled by Mitchell Starc for 38.

That began another batting collapse, with Verreyne eventually falling to Nathan Lyon for 62 as the tail failed to wag.

South Africa struck immediately in reply though as David Warner struggled with a short delivery from Kagiso Rabada off the first ball of the Australian first innings and was caught well by Khaya Zondo for a golden duck.

Marnus Labuschagne (11) edged Marco Jansen's first ball into the hands of Elgar before Usman Khawaja (11) also nudged an Anrich Nortje delivery to sub Simon Harmer in the slips.

After a reprieve when a review showed an edge had dropped just short of Elgar, Head took full advantage as he brought up his half-century off just 48 balls.

A partnership of 117 with Smith was ended by Nortje before the close as he sent a terrific delivery into Smith's stumps, before Rabada dismissed nightwatchman Scott Boland (1) off the last ball of the day, though Head remained unbeaten on 78 from just 77 balls as Australia closed on 145-5.

Balanced Aussie bowling downs Proteas

The key to a potent bowling attack – especially in Test cricket – is teamwork and variation, and Australia have that in spades.

South Africa's was an innings of two halves, with Starc (3-41), Pat Cummins (2-35) and Boland (2-28) all picking up early wickets, before the consistent spin of Lyon mopped things up, with the 35-year-old ending with figures of 3-14.

Head leads the way

It has been a very interesting innings from Head, looking nervous after scoring just two from his first 16 deliveries, before deciding to just go for it and smashing 51 from his next 32.

He even brought up his 50 with a six down the leg side, making a mockery of the struggles experienced by almost every other batsman on day one, ending with 14 boundaries (13 fours) to his name by the close.

James Anderson is enjoying the thrill ride of Ben Stokes' England captaincy and the challenge of "thinking differently", ahead of the third and final Test against Pakistan.

The 40-year-old has impressed in the tourists' first two matches and will be rested for the last encounter, with an eye on England's trip to New Zealand in the new year.

With 177 caps, Anderson is second only to India great Sachin Tendulkar for all-time Test appearances, and he has posted eight wickets at 18.50 while in Pakistan.

His efforts come amid a more aggressive approach to the long-form game favoured by Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum, which Anderson says is having a galvanising effect on all England's bowlers.

"I love thinking about the game, thinking about plans, and Ben is that sort of captain," Anderson said. "All he thinks about is taking wickets.

"He's not bothered about trying to dry the run rate up or control the game. He wants to take wickets. You see that with the fields he sets. That then rubs off on you as a bowler.

"This seems to be working for this group of bowlers, and we've got a nice mix of bowlers. I've found it refreshing thinking differently, even though I've played a lot of games."

The third Test begins on Saturday, with Anderson expecting England to head in with the same positive approach that has brought two wins so far, as instilled by captain and coach.

"As long as you're getting hit in the right areas, they don't care if you go for the odd four," Anderson said, quoted by Cricinfo. "That gives you confidence to bowl, knowing that you don't have to fret about how many runs you're going for.

"If that's the way you're trying to get people out, with catchers in front of the wicket as they have been out here, then they're completely fine with it."

Dean Elgar is expecting some "feisty encounters" during South Africa's Test series in Australia but says there are "no grudges" over the ball-tampering scandal.

Over four years on from the fiasco in Cape Town in which Cameron Bancroft was caught using sandpaper in an attempt to try and alter the condition of the ball, the two nations start a three-match Test series at the Gabba on Saturday.

Steve Smith and David Warner have long since returned to the Australia team after serving bans for their part in that plot, which saw them stripped of the captain and vice-captain roles respectively.

South Africa won that series on home soil in 2017-18, having also come out on top in their last Test series in Australia back in 2016-17.

With Australia top of the World Test Championship table and the Proteas second, they are fighting it out for a place in the final at The Oval next June and captain Elgar is not dwelling on the past.

He said: "There will be moments, no doubt, where there will be a few feisty encounters but hopefully it doesn't reach the stage that we experienced in 2018.

"What's happened in the past happened. There are no grudges. We know they want to win and we want to win. There will always be a moment where egos and the heat of the moment gets to the guys but think it will be better controlled this time.

"If they've got added issues with regards to [the ball-tampering scandal] then that's their thing, but with regards my team we haven't spoken about it once. It's history for us."

Australia skipper Pat Cummins, who will replace Michael Neser after recovering from a quad injury, echoed Elgar's sentiments. 

The paceman said: "We've all moved on. I don't think we're probably as abrasive as we've been in the past. It's working for us.

"How we are off the field is pretty similar to what we play on the field I think - calm, very chill, just enjoying it out there, really competitive. And we've done that really well over the last 12 months."

Starc closing in on milestone

Australia will look to Mitchell Starc to fire with the new ball and the paceman is closing in on a milestone.

The left-arm quick only needs another four wickets to reach the 300 mark in Tests, a feat only six other Australia players have achieved.

Starc struck nine times as Australia emphatically whitewashed West Indies ahead of this series.

Van der Dussen return a boost for Proteas

Rassie van der Dussen makes a welcome return to the international stage for South Africa after recovering from a broken finger.

The batter was ruled out of the T20 World Cup due to the damage done during a Test series loss in England.

Meanwhile, skipper Elgar needs only a further 29 runs to take his Test tally to 5,000.

Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara made brilliant centuries as India continued their dominance of the first Test against Bangladesh on day three.

Gill (110) scored his maiden Test hundred and Pujara (102 not out) made his first for almost four years, with the tourists declaring on 258-2 in their second innings.

India had earlier bowled out the Tigers for 150 to take a first-innings lead of 254 runs.

Set an improbable victory target of 513 at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Bangladesh were 41 without loss at stumps on Friday.

Kuldeep Yadav (5-40) completed a five-wicket haul as India wrapped up the Tigers' first innings in the morning session after they resumed on 133-8 in Chattogram.

Gill and KL Rahul then put on 70 for the first India wicket before Khaled Ahmed had the captain caught by Taijul Islam for 23.

The excellent Gill and Pujara then combined for a stand of 113 to extend the lead, raising the run rate with Ebadot Hossain off the field and Shakib Al Hasan not bowling due to a rib issue.

Gill took a bow after reaching three figures in the longest format for the first time, before he fell to Mehidy Hasan, and Rahul declared after Pujara brought up an elusive hundred.

Najmul Hossain Shanto and Zakir Hasan looked assured as they saw Bangladesh through to the close, but they will head to the middle on Saturday with much work to do,

Gill grasps his chance, wait over for Pujara

The absence of injured captain Rohit Sharma opened the door for Gill to come in at the top of the order.

Gill has taken his chance, making his maiden hundred in his 12th Test. He hit three sixes and found the rope 10 times in a 152-ball knock.

Pujara had not reached three figures in the longest format since January 2019, but he followed up his 90 in the first innings by scoring a 19th Test century.

Kuldeep shines on his return

Spinner Kuldeep has bowled beautifully in his first Test since February 2021, claiming a third five-wicket Test haul.

After taking four wickets on the second day, he had Ebadot caught behind before Mehidy was stumped by Rishabh Pant off the bowling of Axar Patel to end Bangladesh's first innings.

Rehan Ahmed will become the youngest man to play a Test for England when the teenager makes his debut in the final match of the series against Pakistan.

Ahmed will be aged 18 years and 126 days when he makes his Test bow at the National Stadium in Karachi on Saturday.

The leg-spinning all-rounder will break a long-standing record held by Brian Close since back in 1949.

Ahmed and Ben Foakes come into the side as replacements for Will Jacks and James Anderson.

Nottingham-born Ahmed earned a call-up with some impressive performances for Leicestershire in the County Championship.

While Ahmed will be making his first Test appearance, Pakistan batter Azhar Ali has announced he will retire from the longest format after playing in Karachi.

England have already won the series and will be looking to pull off a first whitewash in Pakistan.

Pakistan batter Azhar Ali will retire from Test cricket after the final match of the series against England.

The 37-year-old has announced the 97th match of his career in the longest format at the National Stadium in Karachi, which starts on Saturday, will be his last.

Azhar is Pakistan's fifth-highest Test-run scorer with 7,097 at an average of 42.49, making an outstanding 19 hundreds and 35 half-centuries after making his debut in 2010.

The classy right-hander, whose highest score was a magnificent 302 not out against West Indies in 2016, captained his country in nine Tests during two tenures.

Azhar said: "It has been a great honour and privilege for me to represent my country at the highest level. Deciding on when to call it a day is always tough, but, after contemplating deeply, I realised that this is the right time for me to retire from Test cricket.

"There are many people who I am grateful to in this strenuous, yet beautiful journey. I want to make a special mention of my family without whose sacrifices; I would not have been where I am today. My parents, wife, siblings, and children have been my strength throughout.

"I have been blessed to share a dressing room with some of the most outstanding cricketers with whom I share a strong bond. I feel much richer by calling these people my friends. I am also blessed to have played under some wonderful coaches to whom I will always remain grateful. 

"I retire from international cricket as a fulfilled cricketer who ticked most of the goals he had set for himself. Not many cricketers go on to lead their countries, and that I was able to captain Pakistan is a matter of great pride for me.

"From being a kid who started as a leg-spinner to becoming a mainstay in the Test batting line-up, I had the loveliest moments of my life that I will cherish forever."

Captain Pat Cummins will make his return for Australia's first Test against South Africa at the Gabba.

The paceman was absent for Australia's series-sealing second-Test win over the West Indies last week, a match that saw Steve Smith stand in as skipper, due to a quad injury.

Cummins is ready to face Dean Elgar's men, though, and will replace Michael Neser in the only change to the XI.

With Josh Hazlewood still out with an ongoing side strain, Cummins will form part of a bowling attack that includes Scott Boland, Mitchell Starc, all-rounder Cameron Green, and spinner Nathan Lyon.

Speaking on Friday, Cummins said about a Gabba pitch that looks favourable for pace bowling: "A couple of the boys said it's similar to what they've seen here in the past. It looks like there's a bit of grass. So, we'll see how it looks tomorrow.

"They'll give it a final cut. It always looks pretty green here a couple of days out, then on the morning of day one it looks a bit different."

The series is the first time South Africa have played Test cricket in Australia since the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, which led to bans for Aussie trio Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft.

The first Test starts on Saturday, with two more contests scheduled to begin at the MCG and SCG on December 26 and January 4 respectively.

England seamer Ollie Robinson feared he would have to bring his career to an early end due to injury,

The 29-year-old has played a big part in England's first Test series win in Pakistan, taking five wickets in Rawalpindi and three in Multan.

Robinson had suffered a series of injury setbacks and came in for criticism for his lack of fitness during the Ashes series hammering in Australia at the start of this year.

Back issues badly hampered Robinson and he was concerned that his playing days could be over.

"I kept coming back to full fitness, then getting an injury or illness, then another injury," he told BBC Sport.

"There were points when I didn't think I was going to play for England again, or play cricket again.

"I thought 'I might have to look at what else I can do here, I don't think I'm going to be able to carry on playing cricket'."

England will attempt to secure a whitewash of Pakistan in a third and final Test that starts at the National Stadium in Karachi on Saturday.

Robinson is savouring a special tour following such a challenging period.

"It's probably the toughest 12 months I've had as a professional cricketer," said Sussex's Robinson.

"It's a really proud tour for me, in the fact my body has got through it, I've bowled well and I've proved to the world I can do it in any conditions.

"It's been tough and there have been some dark days, but series wins like this make it all worthwhile."

Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj did the damage as India dominated day two of the first Test against Bangladesh at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.

The tourists put on 111 for the last three wickets to post 404 all out in Chattogram and Bangladesh were in trouble on 133-8 at stumps in reply after losing six wickets in the final session on Thursday, trailing by 271 runs.

India were 293-7 when Shreyas Iyer was bowled by Ebadot Hossain for 86, but Ravichandran Ashwin made 58 and Kuldeep 40 to get them up to an imposing total.

Taijul Islam (4-133) and Mehidy Hasan (4-112) took four wickets apiece For the Tigers, with Iyer dropped three times and getting another life on day one when an Ebadot delivery struck his off stump, but the bails stayed on.

Siraj had Najmul Hossain Shanto caught behind with the first ball of Bangladesh's innings and Umesh Yadav got in on the act by bowling Yasir Ali, reducing Bangladesh to 5-2.

The wickets continued to tumble as Kuldeep and Siraj tore through the Tigers, with Zakir Hasan, Litton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim getting starts but falling to go on.

Kuldeep took 4-33 and Siraj was superb with the new ball, claiming 3-14 as India took command. Mehidy and Ebadot prevented further damage being done by combining for an unbroken ninth-wicket stand of 31.

Kuldeep delivers late birthday presents

Tweaker Kuldeep celebrated his 28th birthday on Wednesday and celebrated a day later by making an impact with bat and ball.

Playing his first Test since February 2021, he struck four boundaries in a 114-ball knock, proving excellent support for Ashwin in an eighth-wicket stand of 92.

Kuldeep was also on the money with ball in hand, captain Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur among his victims.

Siraj the spearhead

The Bangladesh batters had no answer to seamer Siraj, who set the tone by striking with his first delivery.

He also had Zakir Hasan caught behind by Rishabh Pant and got one to nip in and clean up Das.

Ish Sodhi has been recalled to New Zealand's Test squad for the upcoming tour of Pakistan, four years after he last played for the Black Caps in this format.

The Canterbury leg-spinner has been included in the 15-player squad for the two-Test series, which begins in Karachi on December 26 before concluding in Multan eight days later.

Sodhi has remained a mainstay in his nation's T20 side, having recently claimed his 100th wicket in that format, and coach Gary Stead highlighted the importance of his return to the red-ball setup.

"Ish has been playing international cricket for almost a decade now, and we're backing his skills and experience," he said.

"Looking at the current conditions and style of play in the Pakistan and England Test series, we feel having a wrist-spinner in the team will be important."

Meanwhile, this will be Tim Southee's first Test as captain with Kane Williamson also included after announcing his decision to step down as skipper in this format.

Uncapped Blair Tickner could make his Test bow, while Glenn Phillips has been named in the squad almost three years on from his sole red-ball appearance against Australia in January 2020.

New Zealand Test squad to face Pakistan: Tim Southee (captain), Michael Bracewell, Tom Blundell, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner, Neil Wagner, Kane Williamson, Will Young.

Kane Williamson has stepped down as New Zealand's Test captain and will be replaced by Tim Southee, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) announced on Wednesday.

Captain in the Test format since 2016, Williamson has won 22 of his 38 matches as Black Caps skipper, ranking second all-time in victories behind Stephen Fleming.

Williamson led the team to victory in the ICC World Test Championship final last year when they defeated India by eight wickets in England.

The 32-year-old has struggled with an elbow injury of late and he has not scored a century since January 2021 against Pakistan.

The decision comes with Williamson reportedly wanting to manage his workload, though he will continue to captain the team in T20I and ODI matches.

Southee is an experienced replacement, having played 346 internationals since making his New Zealand debut in 2008.

The fast bowler will become the Black Caps' 31st Test captain later on this month when his team's tour to Pakistan begins.

Opener Tom Latham will assume the role of vice-captain having previously deputised for Williamson during his injury absence.

Williamson feels it is the right time to step back from his role in the red-ball team, saying in the NZC's statement: "Captaining the BLACKCAPS in Test cricket has been an incredibly special honour.

"For me, Test cricket is the pinnacle of the game and I've enjoyed the challenges of leading the side in the format.

"Captaincy comes with an increased workload on and off the field and at this stage of my career I feel the time is right for this decision.

"After discussions with NZC, we felt that continuing to captain the white-ball formats was preferable with two World Cups in the next two years.

"I'm excited to support Tim [Southee] as captain and Tom [Latham] as vice-captain. Having played with both of them for most of my career, I'm confident they'll do a great job.

"Playing for the BLACKCAPS and contributing in all three formats is my number one priority and I'm looking forward to the cricket we have ahead."

David White, NZC CEO, added: "Kane is one of our all-time greats and our priority is to ensure he enjoys his cricket and plays for New Zealand for as long as possible.

"He's a brilliant leader and the success the team has achieved during his time in the longest and arguably toughest format of the game, has been nothing short of remarkable.

"Statistically, he's the most successful Test captain we've ever had – which culminated in the team rising to the number one ICC Test ranking at the start of 2021 and the eventual victory in the ICC World Test Championship Final in June that year."

Southee spoke of his pride at being named the new captain, declaring: "It's been a surreal few days and it’s just a massive honour to be appointed as Test captain.

"Kane's been an outstanding Test captain and I'm looking forward to working with Gary [Stead, New Zealand head coach] on how we can build on that."

New Zealand get their tour to Pakistan underway on December 26, when the first Test starts in Karachi.