Watch: New England Test recruit, Shoaib Bashir, bowled out all of Afghanistan A’s top three batters during a recent training camp with England Lions, taking six wickets in the match.

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It was announced today (December 11) that Bashir would be one of four frontline spinners in England’s squad to take on India in a five-match Test series in the new year. Alongside him will be fellow uncapped option Tom Hartley, with Jack Leach and Rehan Ahmed also in the spin ranks. Bashir has only played six first-class matches in his career so far, the 20-year-old having signed his first professional contract for Somerset ahead of the 2023 season.

Bashir’s selection comes after he was recently included in an England Lions squad for a training camp in the UAE. The 21-player camp was primarily aimed at improving players’ red ball skills, with Ahmed and Hartley also in the group.

In a match organised against an Afghanistan A side, Bashir gave a glimpse at why England have selected him for the senior series. During the first innings, he snared Afghanistan’s World Cup wicketkeeper, Ikram Alikhil, before also helping to clean up the tail. He was even more impressive in the second innings in which he bowled all of Afghanistan A’s top three.

Pitching the ball full outside off stump for all three deliveries, he found decent turn to rip the ball through the batters’ defences and hit the stumps. He finished with figures of 3-24 in the second innings, with combined figures of 6-42 in the match.

Watch: Shoaib Bashir bowls all of Afghanistan A top three

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