England

According to a Cricbuzz report, the development is a big relief for the IPL teams, who were predicting limited or conditional no-objection certificate (NOC) for the players from England and Australia because of the Ashes series -- the traditional and oldest cricket rivalry between the two teams.

Ahmed, who became the youngest player to take a five-wicket haul during England's victory against Pakistan in the third and final Test at Karachi recently, will sit out the series in New Zealand as head coach Brendon McCullum and the selectors have decided to juggle the squad to give players rest ahead of the Ashes series and the ODI World Cup in India later in 2023.

England finished their obligations for 2022 when they wrapped up their first Test series in Pakistan for 17 years cruising to victory in the third and final Test in Karachi on Tuesday.

On Day 4, Ben Duckett and Ben Stokes made short work of the run chase on Tuesday morning to lead England to a comfortable eight-wicket win in the third and final Test at the National Stadium. Needing only 55 runs, the duo knocked off the required runs in less than 40 minutes to help the visitors complete a historic 3-0 whitewash over Pakistan.

Rehan (5-48) became the youngest man to take a five-wicket haul on debut at 18 years and 129 days old as England bundled out the hosts for 216 in their second innings -- leaving them needing 167 runs to win the Test and complete a 3-0 series sweep. Pakistan had scored 304 runs in the first innings to which England responded with 354 for a 50-run lead.

England, who lead the three-match series 2-0 after a 74-run win in Rawalpindi and a close-fought 26-run victory in Multan, took a crucial 50-run lead on the back of Brook's innings before they were bowled out for 354 and Pakistan cut the deficit to 29 at the close of play at the National Stadium here.

The Karachi Test against England will be Ali's last and 97th Test match for Pakistan, since he made his debut in the format against Australia at Lord's in 2010. Till now, he has amassed 7,097 runs in 96 matches at an average of 42.49, including 19 centuries and 35 half-centuries. "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.

By winning the second Test, England took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-Test series with Pakistan. It was also won eighth win for England in nine Test matches since the new team management of Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum took charge in May 2022. The victory in the Multan Test also secured for England a historic series win on their first visit to Pakistan in 17 years.

Pakistan had earlier lost the Rawalpindi Test to England by 74 runs, before the loss to Multan on Monday confirmed their series defeat. Apart from their quest of being in WTC taking a serious beating, England have also leapfrogged Pakistan in the WTC standings.

Resuming from 198/4 on day four, Pakistan appeared on course to chase down an tricky 355 as Saud Shakeel (94) and Mohammad Nawaz (45) took the hosts to 290/5 through their 80-run partnership for the sixth wicket, only for Wood to swing the momentum back in England's favour by taking out both set batters in leg-side strangles just before lunch.