On Sunday, January 21, the England team left for India without its 20-year-old off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, who went back to the UK to sort out some paperwork. India will be the opponent in a highly anticipated five-match Test series for Ben Stokes and company. Born in Surrey, Shoaib Bashir holds a British passport and was about to go on his first Test tour with England. However, because of the long-standing tension between the two nations, his Pakistani ancestry is impeding an easy journey to India.
After an 11-day preparatory camp in Abu Dhabi, England landed in India. The inability of the Somerset off-spinner to travel with the team, however, virtually eliminated him from consideration for a place in the playing XI for the first Test, which is scheduled to begin on Thursday, January 25, in Hyderabad.
Captain Stokes expressed sympathy for the child and revealed that he had considered not going to India without him. The all-rounder was hoping that Shoaib Bashir will receive the go-ahead and travel to India this weekend.
“I did advise against flying till Bash receives his visa when I initially learned of the situation in Abu Dhabi. However, that seemed a little ironic. I am aware that it goes much beyond just doing that. It was most likely just feelings surrounding the whole situation. That Bash has to go through this, I’m quite devastated,” Stokes remarked.
“You get a little emotional as a captain or leader when one of your teammates is impacted by something like that. I am aware that he is back in London and that many are making excuses to attempt to expedite this. With any luck, he will be here this weekend. There was never a [realistic] possibility that we wouldn’t get around this, but Bash is aware of our unwavering support,” he continued.
Bashir and Stuart Hooper, England’s director of cricket operations, began the week together in the United Arab Emirates. In an attempt to speed up the process, Bashir had to take the aircraft back to London, while the latter joined the England contingent in India on Wednesday.
A footballer of Pakistani ancestry has had difficulties trying to enter India before. Saqib Mahmood was not allowed to travel to India with the England Lions in 2019. Due to a delay in obtaining his India visa, veteran all-rounder Moeen Ali was unable to play in the Chennai Super Kings’ opening match of the 2022 Indian Premier League. During Australia’s 2023 tour of India, Usman Khawaja—whose parents are from Islamabad, Pakistan—also arrived late.
Recently, the British government intervened in the matter and restated its position that British nationals should be treated “fairly” by India when they seek for visas.
“Shoaib Bashir and the Indian government should handle the case’s specifics. However, we fully anticipate that India would always handle British nationals equitably when granting visas. A British government representative informed ESPNcricinfo, “We have previously raised the issues British citizens with Pakistani heritage experience applying for visas with the Indian High Commission in London.”
For the Uppal clash, visitors select a spin-heavy XI.
The other player for England with Pakistani characteristics, Rehan Ahmed, was able to obtain permission to enter India after being placed on standby for the 2023 ODI World Cup since he had all the required paperwork. In the meanwhile, England revealed their playing eleven for the opening Test match, which included only one front-line pacer, Mark Wood, and three spinners, Jack Leach, Rehan Ahmed, and Tom Hartley.
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (C), Ben Foakes (WK), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, and Jack Leach are the members of the England playing XI for the opening Test.
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