Bashir in as England pick three spinners with THREE caps!
England made their most audacious selection of the Bazball era when they went into today’s second Test against India with three young spinners boasting three caps between them, backed up by a seamer old enough to be their father. Shoaib Bashir, 20, was thrown into this crucial game for his debut after only arriving in India on Sunday, once the authorities had finally granted him a visa and he had spent a couple of days with his family in Surrey taking stock of the fallout from the saga.
He was joined by the bowling star of the first Test Tom Hartley, 24, and Rehan ahmed — playing just his third Test at the age of 19 — and the attack was completed by the evergreen Jimmy anderson, taking on a new role at 41 as the only seamer.
Bashir becomes the 99th player capped by England since anderson’s debut more than 20 years ago, the ninth youngest player to represent England in Tests and the third youngest spinner behind ahmed, who debuted in Pakistan last winter, and Ian Peebles in 1927. He has played just six first-class games for Somerset, taking 10 wickets.
‘There are no worries or issues for me that he’s been away from the group,’ said captain Ben Stokes of Bashir, who replaced his injured Somerset team-mate Jack leach. ‘It’s not like he’s forgotten how to bowl. ‘Baz (coach Brendon McCullum) told him he was playing and when he saw me just now he gave me a big hug. I told him I was going to tell the media so he didn’t have to keep it quiet. He looked very excited.’ England considered playing an additional seamer in Ollie Robinson but stuck with their spin policy when they inspected the pitch here in Visakhapatnam ahead of training and felt it was a little drier than when they first saw it on Wednesday. It was something of a surprise that England went for Mark Wood rather than anderson when they decided one seamer was enough for the first Test because the 41-year-old is capable of providing the control that was lacking in the first innings in Hyderabad. now Test cricket’s most prolific seamer has a new role. ‘It goes under the radar just how good Jimmy’s record in India is,’ added Stokes. ‘People say he’s the “swing king” and all that but he has different skillsets I will be able to exploit here.’