India have been labelled ‘obviously terrified’ of young English spinner Shoaib Bashir after the 20-year-old offie was forced to return to the UK due to visa problems.
Bashir, is of Pakistani heritage, was left stranded in Abu Dhabi following England’s training camp as he had not been approved to travel to Hyderabad. He will now miss the first Test, which begins on Thursday.
The English media is up in arms: the Daily Mail back page simply read “How Dare You”, directed at India, while The Telegraph‘s sports lead on a call for England to boycott the match in solidarity with their rookie, who has now been ruled out.
“It is a shameful humiliation of a blameless player, and one that his England team-mates should punish in Hyderabad by refusing to take to the field,” wrote chief sports writer Oliver Brown.
“The significance of this moment can hardly be understated. India has effectively concocted a method of determining which players can and cannot play for England based on their race. This is indefensible, and it demands to be met with the strongest response.
“The demeaning of one of their players for reasons not of his making should be treated as an affront to them all.”
Bashir had been waiting with a member of England’s support staff in the Middle East but will now go home to England awaiting further news from the Indian High Commission in London.
The matter has escalated as high as the UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, with a statement released by Downing Street.
“We do expect India to treat British citizens fairly at all times in its visa processes,” it read.
“And we have previously raised issues of British citizens with Pakistani heritage. We’ve raised the issues that some have raised about their experience applying for visas with the Indian High Commission in London.”
The representative of the British Parliament’s All Party Group for Cricket – a lobbying ground of MPs and Lords – called it a ‘disgrace’ that Bashir had been unable to secure a visa.
“The most exciting young spinner in world cricket has been left languishing at border control – they were obviously terrified,” said Tom Hunt MP.
Bashir is far from the first player of Pakistani extraction to fall victim to India’s visa rules, with Moeen Ali and Saqib Mahmood also struggling to gain entry to play for England, as well as Australia’s Usman Khawaja.
The Pakistan Cricket Board made an official complaint to the ICC during the World Cup after their journalists were not issued visas to cover the team at the tournament.
“I’m devastated for him,” said captain Ben Stokes.
“As captain I find it particularly frustrating that we have picked a player and he’s not with us because of visa issues.
“We announced that squad in mid‑December, and now Bash finds himself without a visa to get here. I didn’t want this type of situation to be his first experience of what it’s like to be in the England Test team.
“I feel for him. But he’s not the first cricketer to go through this; I have played with a lot of people who have had the same issues.”
England applied for Bashir’s visa on December 11, along with all other players, and every member of the touring party was approved.
Bashir’s first class record is far from stellar, with 10 wickets at 67 in the County Championship, but he is seen as a bright light for the future thanks to his extreme height – 193cm – and his prodigious spinning ability.
Ironically, his replacement could be another player of Pakistani heritage, leggie Rehan Ahmed, who was able to travel having previously been granted a visa as a standby player during last year’s World Cup.
The other option would be Tom Hartley, a left arm off-spinner, who would make a Test debut.
sedz
Roar Rookie
Pakistan's ISI consistently engages in proxy warfare against India. Just as you are deeply concerned about America, we have a profound commitment to our own country. There's a significant distinction between being subservient to the US and defending one's national interests. Same time, I understand your concerns regarding the global dynamics of arms supply and the resulting geopolitical tensions. It's indeed a complicated and sensitive issue, with various countries having their own strategic interests and alliances. So you do what is your best interest and let India do it in their best interest. Don't think you have a moral authority over other to decide what is best? Iran and Paksitan are not different to be honest. They both harbor different terrorist groups.
Ankush Deshpande
Roar Rookie
Does the western world even know about the tensions between the 2 nations? let me brief you. we have fought 4 full fledged wars with them, 1948,1865,1971 & 1999.We not only have faced but continually face hostility from their forces from across the LoC where hundreds of our soldiers have attained 'Veergati' or martyrdom. go read about the millions of times their 'mujahideens' or infiltrators have come across our borders and killed innocent people in the name of 'jihad'. go and read about Pulwama,Uri,Pathankot. needless to say ObL was found in Pakistan of all places. Its only fair that these Pakistanis should be probed in and out before issuing any visas. its a case of being safe rather than being sorry.
Panthers
Roar Rookie
In Iran, they shout death to America always . They supply weapons to the Houthi’s to attack western shipping. Just to attack western shipping, for no other reason. ( I’m leaving out the draconian control of the people of Yemen , by the Houthi’s . That Iran likes of course ) . They most likely now supply weapons to Russia, to kill more people & cause destruction in a free country, Ukraine. Let’s not even bother going into the supply of weapons to & military training of many other groups. By association with America, Australia is also a target for hate in Iran. As is every country who has freedom & especially freedom of religion. Are you surprised by the amount of time it takes someone from Iran to get a visa to come to Australia? Or do you live in a bubble , devoid of news of the world?
Panthers
Roar Rookie
I think every opportunity should be given to players such as Tanveer Sangha , to develop their game. As we really lack quality spinners. If we have a promising group of spinners including him. They should all be taken on tours , especially to India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka with the touring parties. To work with their local spinners, coaches & in their conditions.
sedz
Roar Rookie
Not sure where were the Aussies when Djokovic was denied entry to play Aussies open when he wasn’t vaccinated. Aussies always they think they have moral ground when their own country decides that if you are an Afghan national you need a visa to enter but they allows UK or any Europe national to enter without visa. Caucasian’s can enter Australia because of skin color. If an Iranian applies for Australia visa it takes approximately 90 to 150 days to get Australia visa as Australia look up to US intelligence to know his heritage and history. So Australia have no moral compass to lecture others.
sedz
Roar Rookie
If an Afghan needs to enter Australia they need a visa. But any one from UK or Sweden or most of Europe they don’t need visa. So it’s utterly pathetic that Australia uses color (or Caucasian ) to determine who needs Visa and who don’t.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
Disgraceful. England should indeed boycott the first test.
RayinSydney
Roar Rookie
So why no Pakistan players in the IPL then?, or why did Pakistan journalists get turned away from entering the World Cup last year? I hardly think their exclusion is just ‘rules’.
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
Jay Shah, as secretary of the BCCI is clearly in an influential position, more so because his father is the Indian Minister for Home Affairs. Clearly there's more at play in the current situation with Bashir. Exactly what that is, I have no idea and I suspect only a few select people in both England and India have any real notion about what's happening. You may well be right about the pull the BCCI has, but without knowing why Bashir has been refused the visa, we're only speculating about what the BCCI might or might not be able to do. All that said, it's certainly not a good look for India. It'll be interesting to see what the UK's response will be. They might not do or say anything now, but those in power in Britain have long memories and they will respond
13th Man
Roar Rookie
Jay Shah is one of the most powerful people in India and also head of the BCCI - I can almost guarantee you if he asked them to fast track an opponents visa application then they would do it. The BCCI are genuinely one of the most powerful groups of people in that country. They are just as anti - Pakistan as the Indian government is unfortunately.
jameswm
Roar Guru
No I just thought the English mgt could have chased that one specifically, knowing it could be an issue. Might not have made a difference as you said. It's poor form from India though.
jameswm
Roar Guru
Yeah but what I mean is, surely the mgt knew that visa could be an issue, so made specific enquiries about it, or chased it separately to the others? It is very poor form by India, not arguing with that.
Opeo
Roar Rookie
So it looks like Beer had 26 wickets at 46. They are rubbish numbers but it is not six wickets at 67! He came into the Australian team after he took five wickets in a tour match against a very strong England XI that had the likes of Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook.
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
Do you know why the visa was delayed because I don't. I agree if it is something within the power of the BCCI to provide and they've failed to do so, by all means they should be asked to explain why and held to account by the ICC. If not, how can they be blamed in any way?
13th Man
Roar Rookie
If the BCCI wanted to they could go straight to the government and fast track everything. They may not be actively involved but they also haven’t exactly encouraged or helped the ECB in this. They are guilty by association.
Opeo
Roar Rookie
Bryce McGain took 100 wickets at 35. Before Casson came into the squad he took 29 wickets at an average of 35.13 and scored 485 runs at 60.62. Doherty had a season where he was averaging 25 and was playing well for the ODI side. I am not sure what Beer did to deserve test selection but he was still doing astronomically more than six wickets at 67. Yes white and Smith were picked as “spinners” but a massive part of why they were there was because they could bat. They were not even the best spinners in their respective states. If the guy in this article could at least bat I would not be so flummoxed by this. I am confused as to why English papers would think they do not have any spinners when they have spinners that have 170 first-class wickets at 26. Those numbers would not look out of place for Shane Warne and people are saying “nah, there are no spinners in county cricket”.
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
No I don't think the BCCI's involved at all. I've read a number of sources about this issue from England and all seem to mix the Indian gov't and BCCI together, as if the cricket board has somehow had something to do with this. IMO that's complete nonsense.
13th Man
Roar Rookie
The player in question is British. Let’s get that right first of all. He is a UK citizen, all the other UK citizens had their visas approved straight away.
13th Man
Roar Rookie
You really don’t think the BCCI are involved? They would be in the thick of this supporting the government, trying to make it as difficult as possible for England - the BCCI doesnt like rolling out the welcome mat.
13th Man
Roar Rookie
It is blatantly xenophobic because he’s a UK citizen, with a UK passport, with absolutely no history of criminality, he’s a young kid, born in Surrey (not Pakistan), and has been treated differently to the rest of his team simply due to the fact his parents originate from Pakistan. This is even more open and shut than Usman Khawaja, who was at least born in Pakistan, but still didn’t warrant the level of discrimination against. The guy is simply there to play cricket, the Indian authorities know this - they are simply doing it because they can, there’s no actual reason behind it. It’s embarrassing and petty.