Shoaib Bashir at a warm up session (Courtesy: ECB/X)
England have handed a debut to their off-spinner Shoaib Bashir in the second Test against India in Vizag, starting from Friday. The 20-year-old replaces his Somerset team-mate Jack Leach, who has been ruled out due to a bruised knee he sustained during the historic 28-run victory in the Hyderabad Test.
A visa issue prompted Bashir to head to London from Abu Dhabi training camp. He remained unable for selection in the first Test. The Somerset spinner has played only six first-class games, scalping 10 wickets at an average of 67.
England captain Ben Stokes noted Bashir for the first time when he saw a clip of him bowling to former English captain Sir Alastair Cook. “To be perfectly honest, our training camp in Abu Dhabi was the first real live look I got at Bash,” Stokes said of Bashir, who will join Tom Hartley, Rehan Ahmed and Joe Root in England”s spin attack.
“The first time I saw him was on Twitter. I think the County Championship put a little clip together of him bowling against Sir Alastair.
“I just saw something. With the height he bowled from, it was very obvious that he put a lot of action, a lot of revolutions, on the ball.”
The visitors have made another change as England veteran James Anderson comes in place of speedster Mark Wood. It is a tactical change from the Ben Stokes-led side after premier India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah displayed his ability to swing the ball on a slow track during the first Test in Hyderabad.
The England”s leading Test wicket-taker with 690 scalps in 183 matches returns to the side for the first time since last summer”s drawn Ashes series, where he claimed only five wickets in four games at an average of 85.
England XI for second Test vs India: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (captain), Ben Foakes (wicketkeeper), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir, James Anderson.
