England spinner Shoaib Bashir finally made it back to the England team on Sunday after getting his long-awaited visa to India. The 20-year-old, who has not played a single international match, was unable to travel with the rest of the team when they moved from their camp in Abu Dhabi last weekend due to a paperwork issue.
He was born in Surrey but because of his family connections in Pakistan, checks took longer than anticipated and he eventually had to fly to London to get a stamp from the Indian High Commission.
On the fourth day of the IND vs ENG 1st Test, he arrived in Hyderabad and travelled to join the team at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
At the lunch break, the 20-year old made his way to the ground and was soon involved in the action, throwing the ball to head coach McCullum as he prepared his slip catchers ahead of India’s chase in the fourth-innings.
England captain Ben Stokes had expressed sympathy for Bashir on the eve of the match, saying: “I’m pretty devastated that Bash has had to go through this.
“As a leader, as a captain, when one of your team-mates is affected by something like that, you get a bit emotional. It’s obviously a frustrating situation, more importantly, for him.”