Twenty-year-old off-spinner Shoaib Bashir is the wildcard name in England’s 16-player Test squad for their tour of India – here’s all you need to know about the twirler, and why England have picked him.
England will bring four of their top players to India, with Jack Leach returning from a stress fracture in his back and Rehan Ahmed also returning as part of the front two. Additionally, England picked up the unrestricted option for this series, selecting Tom Hartley alongside Bashir.
Bashir has limited experience as he just signed his first professional contract ahead of the 2023 domestic season. He has taken 10 wickets in his previous six first-class appearances, averaging 67.00, and has made a total of 18 county appearances in the summer. He caused a stir on his County Championship debut by hitting Alastair Cook’s outside edge twice in the first over.
19-year-old off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, bowling his first over on County Championship debut, beats the bat of Alastair Cook twice 👀
Is Somerset done yet? #CountyCricket2023 Photo. twitter.com/C9PzeexE6Q
– Wisden (@WisdenCricket) 11. June 2023
Bashir played age group cricket for Surrey before signing for Somerset, but was released at the age of 17. He also played for Middlesex and Berkshire before impressing and breaking through to Somerset’s second eleven. He was selected for the England Lions’ training trip to the United Arab Emirates at the beginning of the winter, and took six wickets in a match against Afghanistan A. Other spinners selected for the trip were Hartley, Ahmed, Jack Carson, Josh de Caires and Callum Parkinson.
The biggest surprise arising from Bashir’s selection was that Liam Dawson was not selected. Dawson took 49 wickets and also scored three centuries for Hampshire in the County Championship this season. This decision seems strange at first glance, considering his Test experience and form and Bashir’s inexperience.
As for the factors that influenced their spin selection, Rob Key said: “We saw it last summer, and sometimes you just get a glimpse of a few balls and you think, ‘Wait a minute, there’s something else.'” “Or.” That’s special.” So we looked at him in county cricket and looked at the way he bowled and then looked at the potential and tried to find out a little bit about his personality.
“Then we took him on the Lions tour. Me and Brendon (McCullum, England head coach) flew to this Lions camp for about a week and got to see him (in India). I tried to bring them into a similar situation. With someone like Bashir, I think his ceiling is very high. Life is always about how good a person is. Yes, it’s not about how bad “evil” is. He’s very raw. Above all he strives for experience, but we are not afraid to use him if necessary. This is the beginning of his journey and we hope to see a world-class spinner in the future. ”
It is clear from Key’s comments that Bashir will be England’s fourth best spinner in India. That doesn’t mean he won’t play any of his five Tests, but it does mean he likely won’t play all, or even most, of the Tests. Regarding Dawson’s non-selection, Dawson has previously said his contract with SA20 will be a factor in whether he accepts a call-up to England for the tour of India. Key clarified today: “Liam Dawson is probably not someone I would want to tour India as the 15th or 16th man.”
Key also spoke about the type of spinners England need in the Indian situation. England chose Will Jacks and Liam Livingstone as their two spin options during last year’s tour of Pakistan, but this time they have opted for specialists rather than all-rounders. This is because India’s pitches are likely to have less defined ball trajectories than Pakistan’s, requiring deeper spin options.
Basil is a tall right-back at 1.90 meters tall with a high release point. Hartley is a similar type of bowler, delivering the ball faster than most of England’s other options. It remains a huge risk to take on such an inexperienced player during what could be a challenging and long tour for England.
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