“I always knew...” - Shoaib Bashir breaks silence on visa saga for India tour

England spinner Shoaib Bashir opened up about his visa issues which forced him to miss the first Test against India. He said that it was a big hassle but he has made his debut for the team and that is what matters to him the most.

While all the England contingent was in India a few days ahead of the Test series, Shoaib Bashir didn’t receive his visa. The spinner didn’t get the documents on time and that was why he missed the first match in Hyderabad, which the visitors won by 28 runs.

However, his visa issue was rectified and he arrived in India, making his debut for the team in England in the ongoing second Test. The spinner didn’t take long to make an impact as he removed Indian skipper Rohit Sharma for 14 runs to make his first wicket in international cricket.

Shoaib Bashir made a great impact in the game on Day 1 and helped England be at the top. The spinner picked two wickets and apart from Rohit Sharma also removed Axar Patel. The all-rounder was looking solid but Bashir removed him on the stroke of the stumps.

It was a special day for Shoaib Bashir and he believes that getting Rohit Sharma out made his debut even more special. While talking about his visa issues, he thanked BCCI and ECB for getting it sorted and said that he was chilled during that time. Speaking to reporters, he explained:

“It’s been a very special, special day. For all that I’ve been through in the last two to three years, it made it even more special. To get Rohit Sharma out, my first wicket, feels incredible. He’s a quality player, one of the best in the world and a great player of spin as well.

“No doubts at all, I always knew I would get the visa. It was a bit of a hassle but we’re here now, I’ve made my debut, and that’s all that matters. I was pretty chilled to be fair. I knew it would get sorted so thanks to ECB and BCCI for sorting out quite quickly.”

I could have been a bit more consistent with my lines – Shoaib Bashir

Shoaib Bashir wasn’t that much impressed with his performance on Day 1 but he said that he looked back at it thinking he got out Rohit Sharma. He also talked about the team’s performance on Day and stated:

“I could have been a bit more consistent with my lines but I’m just going to look back on this day and think getting Rohit Sharma out, I think that’s all that matters really Jimmy is cap 613, I’m cap 713 so there’s a hundred caps between us.

“He’s an incredible lad, the experience is crazy and having Rooty out there helps a lot as well. I think we did well to get them six down towards the end of the day. Looking ahead we’ll want to get a couple of early breakthroughs (and) then get batting.”

At Stumps on Day 1, India was 336/6 with Yashasvi Jaiswal batting at 179* along with Ravichandran Ashwin on 5*.