File photo of Shoaib Bashir.© X (formerly Twitter)
England’s spinner Shoaib Bashir has eventually received his Indian visa after the initial refusal from New Delhi. The player is set to travel to India and join up with the team by this weekend, informed England Cricket on Wednesday. “We’re glad the situation has now been resolved,” the board added. The issue hogged limelight as the England cricket team in December had announced its squad for the five-match Test series in India, giving enough time for the visa processing of the players. However, Bashir, who is from Pakistani heritage, failed to get an approval intially which saw him being unavailable for the first Test, starting January 25 in Hyderabad.
Bashir will now be in contention for an England Test debut in the second match at Visakhapatnam.
The delay in issuance of an Indian visa to rookie off-spinner Bashir had snowballed into a major controversy ahead of the first Test in Hyderabad.
England skipper Ben Stokes called the turn of events “frustrating” while a British government spokesperson demanded “fair” treatment of the youngster.
The 20-year-old Pakistan-origin cricketer, who plays for Somerset in the English county, had to head back home from the team’s Abu Dhabi training base after a prolonged wait to secure an Indian visa.
“When I first found the news out in Abu Dhabi, I did say we shouldn’t fly until Bash gets his visa,” Stokes said in the pre-match press conference ahead of the first Test.
“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,” he added.
(With PTI Inputs)
Topics mentioned in this article
