NEWS
Follow UsWith Ben Stokes conforming Jack Leach's absence from the second Test against India at Visakhapatnam, it paves the way for uncapped off-spinner Shoaib Bashir to make his debut. Leach is believed to have banged his knee twice during the first Test in Hyderabad and the injury is believed to have aggravated when he bowled in the fourth innings.
However, it is certainly an opportunity for Leach's Somerset teammate Bashir to show his prowess now. Tom Hartley had a memorable debut in Hyderabad, can Bashir have a similar one in Visakhapatnam?
Head coach Brendon McCullum had floated the idea of playing an all-spin attack, but it looks like England have to put a pin on it for now. Stokes, though, is not bothered about giving Bashir a go.
"He's [Leach] ruled out of the second Test," Stokes said ahead of the game, which is set to get underway on Friday (February 2).
"Unfortunately, the knock he took resulted in a haematoma in his leg. It's a big shame for us, a big shame for Jack, obviously after a long time out of the game with his back.
"To sustain that injury, first game back, obviously, it's frustrating. But it's something we're assessing every day. The medical team have taken over that, and hopefully, it's not something that's too serious and keeps him out for longer in the series."
Speaking of Bashir, Stokes assures the young spinner that he will look to make his debut as memorable as possible. "If he was to play on this tour, then the great thing he has on his side is, what is there to lose?" Stokes said.
"That is how I will be thinking about it, if he gets the chance to play: just to make sure I can give him the best experience I possibly can. Because you only play your first Test match once. If he does play, then I will be trying to make it as enjoyable and fun for him as I can.
"Myself, Baz [Brendon McCullum] and Popey [vice-captain Ollie Pope] will probably have a longer think about it. We looked at the wicket; I gave it a tap and a play-around to make it look like I knew what I was doing. Bash is in the squad, we haven't brought him here to have an experience. If we feel we want to turn to him, we will."
Bashir headed back to London from England's training camp in Abu Dhabi to sort out his visa issues. However, he arrived just in time to watch England record a historic win.
"I mentioned to Wayne [Bentley, the England team manager] that Bash doesn't have to stay here if he doesn't want to. But he was like, 'no, no, I'm staying for this,'" Stokes said.
"It was great for him to see that on his first day back in the camp and to see what Test cricket can bring out and what it is like," said Stokes. "He would have seen it on TV before, but to be in the dressing room and see the emotion as well, I think, was great for him. He knows what it is like, and hopefully, it wants to make him do it even more."
Like many, Stokes' first exposure to Bashir was when he saw the spinner bowl an incredible spell to Alastair Cook on his County debut on Twitter. He then immediately shared it with McCullum and managing director Rob Key. Bashir went on to take just one wicket across his 49 overs in that game, but Stokes was impressed with Bashir.
"To be perfectly honest, Abu Dhabi was the first real live look I got at Bash," Stokes said.
"The first time I saw him was on Twitter. I think the County Championship [account] put a little clip together of him bowling against Sir Alastair.
"I'm in a WhatsApp group with Keysy and Baz. I actually did forward the clip on and said, 'have a look at this, this could be something we could work with on our India tour' and it just progressed from there. He got selected on the Lions tour, and obviously, the coaches on that tour fed back everything to us."
Elaborating further, Stokes said, "I just saw something. The height he bowled from, it was very obvious that he put a lot of action, a lot of revolutions on the ball. It was something I looked at and thought, this could be pretty good for India. I've played a lot of games out here. As a batter, you know what is hard to face, especially from a spin point of view.
"When it came to selection, there wasn't too much thought around him, to be honest, because everyone was very, very impressed with what Bash showed. And everything we wanted in our spin group was answered by Bashir."
With a closely-fought 28-run in the first Test in Hyderabad, England will head to the second Test high on confidence. Can India bounce back to level the series, or will England take complete control with a 2-0 lead? A fascinating week awaits us.
