Gloucestershire Cricket signs Afghanistan's leg-spinner Qais Ahmad

English county club Gloucestershire Cricket has signed Afghanistan leg-spinner Qais Ahmad.

The 19-year-old will play in all of Gloucestershire's Vitality Blast matches in 2020 and will also be a part of the club's County Championship season for the final six matches of the campaign.

Ahmad is elated over his signing for Gloucestershire Cricket.

"I am extremely happy to have signed for Gloucestershire for the T20 Blast and then the County Championship. It is a great honour for me to join Gloucestershire after they had such a successful 2019," said Ahmad in a statement on Wednesday.

"Having played T20 cricket around the world I have always wanted to play the first-class cricket in England to develop my red-ball skills. I am looking forward to working with Richard Dawson," he said.

"I'm delighted that Qais has agreed to join us for next season as the Club enters its first season in Division One since 2004. We had a very strong season in 2019 and Qais will help take us to the next level in both the long and short formats with his game-changing skills," Gloucestershire Head Coach Richard Dawson said.

"He's one of the most exciting young spinners in the world and I'm looking forward to seeing him add a new dimension to our T20 and County Championship squads," he added.

In February 2019, he was signed by the Hobart Hurricanes for the BBL season. Ahmad took seven wickets in his three matches including a best of 3/33 in the semifinal against the Melbourne Stars, where he bowled one of the balls of the tournament to dismiss Marcus Stoinis.

He made his Test debut for Afghanistan in September this year in their one-off match against Bangladesh where he claimed his first Test wicket by scalping Mehidy Hasan Miraz.

Ahmad was drafted by the Rajshahi Kings in the 2018/19 Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and took six wickets in six matches.

In December 2017 he became the leading wicket-taker for Afghanistan in the U19 Cricket World Cup 2018 with 14 wickets.

Following the tournament, the International Cricket Council (ICC) named Ahmad as the rising star of the Afghanistan squad.