'Have Previously Raised Issues British Citizens With Pakistani Heritage Experienced': UK PM Rishi Sunak's Office on Shoaib Bashir's Visa Issue

England spinner Shoaib Bashir missed out on making his debut against India in the first Test match in Hyderabad as he was ruled out and was forced to return home to resolve visa issues.

20-year-old Bashir, who is Muslim of Pakistani heritage, was unable to join the rest of the squad flying to India from a training camp in Abu Dhabi ahead of the series opener.

The incident frustrated England captain Ben Stokes who felt for what his teammate is going through. Meanwhile, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma also

England captain Ben Stokes expressed his frustration on the matter, saying that he felt bad for Bashir. India captain Rohit Sharma also said that he hopes Bashir’s visa issue gets resolved as soon as possible.

Recently, a spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said they expect British citizens to be treated fairly by India’s visa processes.

“I can’t speak to the specifics of this case. But more broadly we have previously raised issues of this kind with the High Commission. We have been clear that we expect India to treat British citizens fairly at all times in its visa processes. We have previously raised the issues British citizens with Pakistani heritage have experienced. We’ve raised the issues about their experience of applying for visas with the Indian High Commissioner in London,” the spokesperson said, as quoted by the BBC.

England hope the Somerset off-spinner will return to India over the weekend, but dejected captain Ben Stokes said: “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. Especially for a young lad, I’m devastated for him.

“As captain I find it particularly frustrating. We announced the squad in mid-December and now Bash finds himself without a visa to get here…It’s unfortunate and I’m very frustrated for him. With Bash unfortunately not able to be here, it rules him out of this game.”

The Ben Stokes-led eleven for the first Test against India comprises three spinners including debutant Tom Hartley along with Jack Leach and Rehan Ahmed.