Watch: Shoaib Bashir's bowling spell that impressed skipper Ben Stokes

England Test captain Ben Stokes expressed his admiration for the bowling skills of young spinner Shoaib Bashir ahead of the second match against Team India. Ben Stokes recalled how he was impressed by Shoaib Bashir’s bowling after watching a clip on social media.

Shoaib Bashir was considered for the playing XI in the first Test match despite limited first-class experience. However, the spinner missed the series opener in Hyderabad due to visa issues. He has played only six first-class matches and taken 10 wickets at an average of 67.

Watch – Shoaib Bashir’s Impressive Spell That Earned Praise from Ben Stokes

On his first-class debut, Shoaib Bashir delivered an impressive spell against former England captain Alastair Cook. The young spinner gained attention on social media, despite only taking one wicket in 49 overs during the County match between Somerset and Essex.

19-year-old off-spinner Shoaib Bashir has looked very assured on first-class debut

He’s bowled beautifully to Sir Alastair Cook: here’s all 25 balls of their morning contest#LVCountyChamp pic.twitter.com/WWvkg5iLOn

— County Championship (@CountyChamp) June 11, 2023

Shoaib Bashir Got Selected On The Lions Tour – Ben Stokes

Ben Stokes revealed that he first noticed Bashir on Twitter, where a County Championship clip showcased his skills against Sir Alastair Cook. Stokes mentioned that his first live experience watching Bashir was during their training camp in Abu Dhabi.

“To be perfectly honest, Abu Dhabi was the first real live look I got at Bash. 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,” Stokes told ESPNcricinfo.

“I’m in a WhatsApp group with Keysy (Rob Key) and Baz (Brendon McCullum). 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 everything back to us,” he added.

England Announce Playing XI For Second Test vs India

On Thursday, England revealed their playing XI with two changes for the second Test of the five-match series. Veteran pacer James Anderson replaced Mark Wood, while Shoaib Bashir stepped in for the injured Jack Leach. Bashir will make his Test debut in Visakhapatnam.

The Ben Stokes-led team will feature three inexperienced spinners in the upcoming red-ball match. Debutant Tom Hartley delivered a match-winning performance in the second, taking seven wickets for 62 runs as India was bowled out for 202 in pursuit of 231.

Jack Leach, the most seasoned spinner in the current squad, sustained a knee injury during the first Test in Hyderabad. In the match, Leach bowled limited spells in both innings. He delivered only 10 overs in the second, where he secured the crucial wicket of Shreyas Iyer.

The visiting team registered a 28-run victory at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad in the series opener. The second match is scheduled to take place at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, starting on Friday, February 2.

England’s playing XI For Second Test vs India: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (C), Ben Foakes, Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir, and James Anderson