Before a five-Test series, England’s Shoaib Bashir, an uncapped spinner, was forced to return home due to visa concerns. India captain Rohit Sharma expressed sympathy for Bashir on Wednesday.
Due to a delay in his visa application, 20-year-old Bashir, who is of Pakistani descent and was born in Britain, was not allowed to go to India with the rest of the team before the opening match in Hyderabad. The team was traveling to India from a training camp in Abu Dhabi.
On the eve of the first game, which begins on Thursday, Rohit told reporters in Hyderabad, “I really feel bad for him.”
“Unfortunately I don’t sit in the visa office to give you more details,” he said.
“But I hope he can make it here quickly and enjoy our country and play some cricket as well.”
The decision seemed to be beyond the control of the England and Wales Cricket Board, despite their best efforts to reach a resolution with their Indian equivalent, the BCCI.
The foreign ministry of India did not respond right away.
Even though it was improbable that Bashir would have made his Test debut on Thursday, England captain Ben Stokes called the situation “frustrating” on Tuesday.
Over the weekend, England hopes to get the Somerset off-spinner back to India.
On and off the field, India and Pakistan, its neighbor, are fierce rivals.
Sports connections have been impacted by the protracted diplomatic impasse between the two nuclear-armed countries, since India refuses to travel to Pakistan or participate in ICC events there.
Previous Pakistani-born cricket players have experienced difficulties entering India; batsman Usman Khawaja arrived late for Australia’s visit of the nation last year.
In addition, the Pakistani cricket squad encountered difficulties getting visas in time for the India ODI World Cup last year.
