England captain Ben Stokes said he’s frustrated and devastated for uncapped spinner Shoaib Bashir following his visa delay for their tour of India. England and India are set to face each other in a five-match Test series.
IND vs ENG Test Series: Full Schedule
Bashir, a British citizen with Pakistani heritage, is facing issues with his visa. The first match of the series set to be played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on January 25. Bashir, whose visa was delayed, has flown back to the UK from Dubai and will be missing the Hyderabad Test.
Speaking ahead of the first Test, Stokes said he is frustrated for Bashir, insisting that they had announced their squad for the India series in mid-December. Bashir has played just six first-class matches, picking 10 wickets.
“Especially as captain I find it particularly frustrating. We announced that squad in mid-December, and now Bash finds himself without a visa to get here. I am more frustrated for him. I didn’t want this type of situation to be his first experience of what it’s like to be in the England Test team. I feel for him,” said Stokes.
He went on to say that Bashir is not the first cricketer to go through this, calling the whole situation unfortunate. Last year, Australia opener Usman Khawaja also faced similar issues and arrived late for the Border-Gavaskar series.
“But he’s not the first cricketer to go through this, I have played with a lot of people who have had the same issues. I find it frustrating that we have picked a player and he’s not with us because of visa issues. Especially for a young lad, I’m devastated for him. It’s a frustrating situation to be in, but a lot of people have been trying to get it through. It’s unfortunate and I’m very frustrated for him,”
The England skipper confirmed that Bashir won’t be part of England’s team for the first Test. The 20-year-old spinner impressed for England Lions in their training camp in November and would have been in contention for the first Test due to the nature of the pitch in Hyderabad.
“Him not being able to be here rules him out. We didn’t come here with preconceived ideas about what we will do with the first team. In India you do like to have a good look at the pitch to see how it might play. With Bash unfortunately not able to be here, it rules him out of this game,” said Stokes.
England’s squad for India series
Ben Stokes (C), James Anderson, Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Shoaib Bashir, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes (WK), Dan Lawrence, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Mark Wood.
