England’s Off-Spinner Shoaib Bashir Gets Visa Approval for Test Series Travel to India
After officially sanctioning that Shoaib Bashir, England’s emerging spinner, gets visa clearance, ECB have made it clear for the Test series in India. Returning to England following initial complications with problems being solved now, Bashir is expected to rejoin the squad over the next weekend.
Elated at the resolution of the situation, a statement released on X said, “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.” Bashir’s setback had emanated from visa delays despite applying on December 11th, 2023, with the rest of the touring party receiving timely approvals.
Captain Ben Stokes particularly lamented the time the team had named their squad back in mid-December with Bashir ruled out from visa reasons coming at such a late stage. And while the ECB initially tried to resolve the matter at a precamp in Abu Dhabi before the series, Bashir had to fly back to the UK for more paperwork which was deemed especially unfortunate by Stokes for the spinner’s induction into the England Test team.
India captain Rohit Sharma expressed sympathy for Bashir, hoping for a swift resolution to the visa issue. He said in a pre-match press conference, “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 & enjoys our country.” With the visa clearance gets, Bashir is now in contention play the second match in Vizag, scheduled to begin on February 2nd by all attention purposes at this point proving an opportunity for the young spinner to make his mark in the series.
19:30 IST
