Abrar made history with 7 wickets in the first innings of the current Multan Test against England. As the first spinner of Pakistan, Abhishek took 7 wickets in the innings. At one stage, he raised the possibility of taking all 10 wickets by taking the first 7 wickets of the English. In the end, it didn’t. However, he completed 10 wickets in the match with three in the second innings on Saturday. He added another wicket on the third day of the match on Sunday.

In all, Abrar took 11 wickets for 234 runs in his debut Test. Only one other person has the feat of 11 wickets for Pakistan on debut. Former fast bowler Mohammad Zahid took 7 wickets for 130 runs against New Zealand in 1996. None of Pakistan’s spinners had more than 8 wickets on Test debut. If the boundaries are spread beyond Pakistan cricket to world cricket, only 7 spinners in Test history have taken 11 wickets on debut before Abrar.

Abrar took England’s first 7 wickets in the debut innings. Pakistan cricket had big expectations for him. Asking for 11 wickets on debut is certainly excessive. But he would do great, many hoped. He has taken domestic cricket by storm with catch after the catch with the magic of leg spin. Name June took Abrar’s wicket for Sindh in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan’s domestic long-distance tournament last October. 11 wickets against Southern Punjab, 9 against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 8 against Balochistan. All in all, he bowled 6 matches in that one month and 43 wickets!

He was born in Karachi. Though its roots lie in Shinkiari, a small village off the Karakoram Highway in Abbottabad, a haven of hilly beauty. From there his family settled in Karachi. The story here is similar to that of his other ten cricketers in Pakistan. Growing up playing tape tennis on the streets of Karachi. Getting into an academy by showing a glimpse of talent.

He came into the mainstream of Pakistan cricket playing for Karachi ‘Zone 3’. It is the weakest of the seven cricket zones in Karachi. Abrar brought this team the title in 2016 with 53 wickets.

Later, he honed his bowling in former Pakistani captain Rashid Latif’s academy. He stepped into the top level with a match for Karachi Kings in the 2017 PSL. Despite not getting a wicket, he gave only 22 runs in 4 overs that day. Abrar kept the English batsman calm when Wayne Morgan, who played in the opposing team, played an innings of 80 runs from 57 balls. He did not give a run in 7 of the 16 balls he bowled to Morgan that day. On that day, he won the praise of legends like Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara.

Abrar won the title six years ago even from the weakest cricket zone in Karachi. After playing two matches in Seva’s PSL, he was sidelined with an injury. Not just from the PSL, a dreaded stress fracture kept him away from mainstream cricket for a long time. Somehow he got lost.

After many struggles, he returned to regular cricket in 2020. Siddha showed great performance for the second eleven of the state in white and red and earned a place in the main team. Then he excelled in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. Move forward along the path of improvement. He took 16 wickets in 5 matches in the 202-21 season, 17 wickets in 2 matches last season, and 43 wickets in 6 matches this time. As a result, he was called to the Pakistan Test team.

He was once known as a mystery spinner in Pakistan cricket. From carrom ball, and Flickr to finger tapping, he used to do many things. But with time gradually emphasized traditional leg spin. Success is also found in that way. He was expected to play in the first Test of the series against England. But Pakistan chose another leg spinner, Zahid Mahmood. Zahid could not make any impact on a lifeless wicket in Rawalpindi in that Test. Abrar also got a place with Zahid in Multan. He was waiting for this opportunity.

Pakistan has been looking for an effective spinner in Tests for quite some time now as Yasir Shah has gradually faded due to injury. Zafar Gohar, Numan Ali, Sajid Khan, and many others have been seen playing. Now Abrar gave the message, he is ready to be Yasir’s successor!