Ben Stokes debated delaying England flight to India attributable to Shoaib Bashir visa…

England captain Ben Stokes floated the concept of not flying to India till Shoaib Bashir’s visa issues have been resolved however admitted there was “never a chance” of placing the primary Test in danger. Bashir, a British Muslim with Pakistani heritage, was dominated out of competition for a Test debut in Hyderabad on Thursday attributable to delays together with his software.

The 20-year-old was in the end pressured to fly residence from Abu Dhabi, the place England held a pre-series coaching camp, after his team-mates travelled on to India. Stokes’ on the spot response when he came upon the Somerset spinner had turn into the most recent participant of Pakistani descent to expertise hold-ups coming into India was for the squad to stay with him in a present of solidarity.

The notion didn’t final lengthy, with the tight turnaround successfully that means the sport must be postponed, however mirrored Stokes’ clear disgruntlement on the therapy of a younger colleague. He mentioned: “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,” he mentioned at his pre-match press convention.

“I know it’s a way bigger thing, doing that. That was probably just (my) emotions around the whole thing. There was never a chance that we were not going to travel around this but Bash knows he’s had our full support.

“I’m fairly devastated that Bash has needed to undergo this. As a pacesetter, as a captain, when considered one of your team-mates is affected by one thing like that you simply do get a bit emotional. I do know he is again in London and lots of people are leaping via hoops to try to get this via faster. Hopefully we’ll see him right here over the weekend.”

India captain Rohit Sharma expressed sympathy for Bashir, who has been thrust into the spotlight and compelled to fly almost 10,000 additional miles to secure the paperwork other players received as a matter of course. “I really feel for him actually,” said Sharma.

“Unfortunately I do not sit within the visa workplace to offer you extra particulars on that however hopefully he could make it shortly, get pleasure from our nation and performs some cricket as effectively. It’s not simple for anybody, it may very well be considered one of our guys wanting to return to England and being denied.”

Lancashire’s Saqib Mahmood, whose mother and father hail from Pakistan, needed to be withdrawn from an England Lions tour of India in 2019 after related delays, whereas Australia opener Usman Khawaja was a late arrival on his nation’s Test journey in 2023.

Moreover, the Pakistan Cricket Board wrote to the International Cricket Council late final yr attributable to specific issues over ready occasions for World Cup visas. England had known as for help from counterparts on the Board of Control for Cricket in India, with new operations supervisor Stuart Hooper main negotiations within the United Arab Emirates, however have been knowledgeable that Bashir wanted to current his passport in particular person on the Indian excessive fee in London.