Shoaib Bashir has been granted a visa which will allow him to enter India and join up with the rest of the England squad as early as this weekend (27-28 January).
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The uncapped off-spinner was unable to travel to Hyderabad with the main squad, and instead had to return to England to solve the issues he had obtaining a visa. The paperwork delay ruled him out of selection for the first Test, which begins tomorrow, with England selecting all three available spinners in their squad in his absence.
Bashir was born in Surrey but is of Pakistani decent. He is the latest among several players with Pakistani heritage whose travel to India has been delayed due to issues with visas. Usman Khawaja was unable to travel to India with the rest of the Australia squad before the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy last year. In 2019, Saqib Mahmood was withdrawn from an England Lions squad after he was unable to get a visa in time for the tour.
Speaking of the problems Bashir has had in securing a visa, Ben Stokes said in a press conference ahead of the first Test: “When I first found the news out in Abu Dhabi, I did say we shouldn’t fly until Bash gets his visa. But that was a little bit tongue in cheek. I know it’s a way bigger thing than doing that. That was probably just emotions around the whole thing. I’m pretty devastated that Bash has had to go through this.”
The first Test of the series begins tomorrow in Hyderabad. England’s XI will feature only one seam-bowler in Mark Wood, with James Anderson, Ollie Robinson and Gus Atkinson all missing out. Tom Hartley will make his Test debut as part of a three-pronged spin attack alongside Rehan Ahmed and Jack Leach.
