England cricketer Shoaib Bashir, who could not get a visa to enter India before the Test series, returned home to resolve the issue.
Bashir, a 20-year-old British Muslim of Pakistani origin, was the only member of the England tour to experience significant delays in his visa application and was not allowed in after a training camp in Abu Dhabi while his teammates were transferred to Hyderabad. where the first Test begins on Thursday.
The England and Wales Cricket Board had hoped the issue could be resolved in the UAE – where chief operating officer Stuart Hooper remains with Bashir – but no solution was found.
The spinner has now returned to England in a bid to get proper approval from the Indian embassy.
Bashir is unlikely to play in the first Test, but events at the start of his first international tour have frustrated the England camp.
“I don't want a situation like this to be his first experience of being in the England Test team,” said England captain Ben Stokes. “Especially for a young kid, I'm devastated for him.
“As captain, I find this very frustrating. We announced the team in mid-December and now Bash finds himself without a visa to come here. He is not the first cricketer to experience this. I have played with many people who have the same problem. I feel frustrated because we selected a player and he is not with us because of visa problems. This is a frustrating situation, but many people have tried to get through it.”
Bashir is the latest Pakistani cricketer to face difficulties entering India, with Usman Khawaja joining Australia's tour of the country late last year and Saqib Mahmood pulling out of the England Lions trip after similar problems in 2019.
