Former India national cricket team player Venkatesh Prasad has slammed the England Cricket Board for their mishandling of the Shoaib Bashir-Visa saga. The ECB, claimed Prasad, sent the youngster to the England team camp in the United Arab Emirates without following the necessary procedures and later cried foul in what he labelled as 'an old English way'. (Streaming | More Cricket News)
Bashir, after a lengthy wait for clearance in UAE, was forced to return to the United Kingdom to follow up on due process before being granted his visa.
"His visa needed to be stamped in the UK. The ECB sent Shoaib Bashir to the UAE, thinking it would be stamped in a third country. Not following basic procedures, assuming things and then crying foul is an old English way. If anyone, it is the ECB at fault," Prasad wrote on X.
The ECB confirmed later that the saga had been sorted, with Bashir receiving clearance to travel to India and link up with his teammates in the coming days. However, the delay in the process means that the 20-year-old will miss the India vs England, 1st Test, in Hyderabad, which is scheduled to begin on January 25, 2024.
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India vs England, Test Series, Squads:
India: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli (Rajat Patidar, Tests 1 and 2), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan.
England: Ben Stokes (captain), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Mark Wood.
India vs England, Test Series, Schedule:
1st Test: 25-29th January 2024 in Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad at 9:30 AM IST.
2nd Test: 2-6th February 2024 in Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam at 9:30 AM IST.
3rd Test: 15-19th February 2024 in Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot at 9:30 AM IST.
4th Test: 23-27th February 2024 in JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi at 9:30 AM IST.
5th Test: 7-11th March 2024 in Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala at 9:30 AM IST.
