After much delay, England’s spinner Shoaib Bashir has been granted a visa to join the Indian team in India by the end of this weekend. There has been a huge uproar from England cricket since Bashir was denied to travel alongside the England team to India for the upcoming five-match series.
Bashir comes from a Pakistani heritage and hence, there was a delay in his visa application. As a result, he had to return to England from Abu Dhabi to complete the necessary formalities.
In its recent Twitter post, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) updated the fans about the latest development.
“Shoaib Bashir has now received his visa and is due to travel to join up with the team in India this weekend. We’re glad the situation has now been resolved,” the England and Wales Cricket Board posted on its X (formerly Twitter) page on the eve of the first Test in Hyderabad.
Shoaib Bashir To Be Available from 2nd Test
Shoaib Bashir will be available for selection from the second Test onwards. Earlier, the English government spokesperson hit hard on the BCCI for not treating all their citizens equally.
“I can’t speak to the specifics of this case. But more broadly we have previously raised issues of this kind with the High Commission. We have been clear that we expect India to treat British citizens fairly at all times in its visa processes.” a British government spokesperson said, as quoted by the BBC.”
“We have previously raised the issues British citizens with Pakistani heritage have experienced. We’ve raised the issues about their experience of applying for visas with the Indian High Commissioner in London.”
Well, this isn’t the first time when a Pakistan-origin player has faced difficulty in traveling to India to play cricket. Some of the big cricketers, like Usman Khawaja, and Moeen Ali have also faced similar problems in the past.
Earlier, Indian captain, Rohit Sharma was also asked about the same, to which he felt bad for the England spinner. Though, he concluded his statement with a witty remark.
“I feel for Shoaib Bashir. Unfortunately, I don’t sit in the Visa office to give you more details, but I hope he gets it quickly and enjoys our country,” the India skipper said in Hyderabad on the eve of the first of the Five-Test series.
The England team announced their playing XI for the first Test match against India on Wednesday. Veteran seamer, James Anderson doesn’t find a place in the eleven as England opts to play with three frontline spinners.
Jack Leach will share the spin bowling duties alongside the likes of Rehan Ahmed and Tom Hartley.
England Playing XI for 1st Test Against India
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (C), Ben Foakes (Wk), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, Jack Leach
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