England's Test captain Ben Stokes finds off-spinner Shoaib Bashir's visa delay for England's tour of India "frustrating" as it has ruled the rookie out of the first Test in Hyderabad.
Bashir was part of England's training camp in Abu Dhabi but couldn't travel alongside the team to India. The delay in his visa application has forced him to travel back to the UK in the hope of expediting the entire process.
Though Bashir has a British passport, the Somerset offie is facing difficulties related to visa clearance due to his roots in Pakistan. The ongoing political and armed conflict between India and Pakistan often leads to visa delays on both sides of the border.
England's red-ball skipper is far from amused by the ongoing ordeal and "feels" for Bashir.
"We announced that squad in mid-December, and now Bash finds himself without a visa to get here. I am more frustrated for him. I didn't want this type of situation to be his first experience of what it's like to be in the England Test team. I feel for him," Stokes was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
"But he's not the first cricketer to go through this, I have played with a lot of people who have had the same issues. I find it frustrating that we have picked a player and he's not with us because of visa issues. Especially for a young lad, I'm devastated for him. It's a frustrating situation to be in, but a lot of people have been trying to get it through. It's unfortunate and I'm very frustrated for him," he added.
England's Test squad:
Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Shoaib Bashir, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes (wk), Dan Lawrence, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Mark Wood.
