England frustration ends as rookie spinner Bashir gets visa for India series

Hyderabad: Shoaib Bashir, the England born cricketer of Pakistani heritage, finally got his Indian visa on Wednesday evening but the whole delay in paperwork and the ensuing drama left England skipper Ben Stokes “devastated” who proclaimed that he even considered staying put in Abu Dhabi with the team until the youngster was cleared to travel.

The entire England team trained in Abu Dhabi for the marquee five-match series against India and a few days before their scheduled departure on Sunday they found out that the 20-year-old Bashir, a wildcard pick by the selectors, hadn’t received his visa.

According to some reports in the English media, Bashir, given his Pakistani lineage, had to be physically present at the Indian High Commission so that his passport could be stamped. Bashir then flew to London and following the necessary paper work got his Indian visa with their media saying the youngster is expected to join the remaining members of the team here during the weekend.

As per the High Commission of India website (London), applicants of Pakistani origin fall into two categories. “The procedure is quicker and simpler for those applying on a Pakistani passport. Those applying on a non-Pakistani passport must furnish additional details.”

"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 X.

Although the simmering situation came to a happy end, the discontent it caused was apparent in Stokes' words. “I'm pretty devastated that Bash has had to go through this. 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. I know it's a way bigger thing, doing that. That was probably just (my) emotions around the whole thing. A lot of people are jumping through hoops to try and get this through quicker.

“He's not the first cricketer to go through this. I have played with a lot of people who have had the same issues. You know, we had announced our squad mid-December. Now, it's January 24 and we still don't have a reason for Shoaib's absence here...hopefully, we can get over and he can also just concentrate on the rest of his tour," Stokes added.

Bashir, who has bagged just 10 wickets in the six first-class games for Somerset, even found support from India skipper Rohit Sharma. “I feel for him honestly. Unfortunately I don't sit in the visa office to give you more details. But I hope he can make it here quickly and enjoy our country and play some cricket as well.”

Bashir is not the first player of Pakistani heritage to be dogged by visa issues owing to the country’s long-standing diplomatic row with India. Last year, Australia’s Pakistani-born Usman Khawaja too faced visa delays ahead of the country’s tour of India for four Test matches. Saqib Mahmood, another Englishman of Pakistani origin, was unable to travel to India in 2019 for an 'A' series.

Last year, just before the ICC ODI World Cup which India hosted, the Pakistan Cricket Board complained about visa issues to its players. Many of their journalists too missed the first couple of games owing to visa delays while many fans failed to make the trip to India for the same reason.