England head coach Brendon McCullum issues statement as uncapped spinner Shoaib Bashir's India arrival delayed due to visa issues

England squad arrived in India on January 21 to begin their preparations for the five-Test series starting on January 25 in Hyderabad. But their uncapped spinner Shoaib Bashir is still not part of the contingent as he has been held up in the UAE due to visa issues. Born in Surrey, a member of Somerset's County side, Bashir's parents are of Pakistani origin.
 

A few days ahead of the series opener, McCullum showed faith in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to help speed the proceedings.
 

"Bash will join us hopefully tomorrow, he's got a couple of issues with his visa coming through," he said.
 

"We're confident on the back of the help from the BCCI and the Indian government that it will sort itself out pretty quickly as well."
 

Before arriving in India, England players had a training camp in Abu Dhabi. Bashir is likely to be available for selection in the series opener.
 

"Things take time, don't they? Everyone is doing what they can. It's a process we need to go through and we're pretty confident that we're close. We've also got a little bit of support out there for him so he's not on his own," the 42-year-old said.
 

"We're hoping the news will come through today that his visa has been approved, then we'll get him to sink his teeth into this series."
 

When the 20-year-old was named in the Test squad, it raised eyebrows as he has played just six first-class games. He has managed to take just 10 wickets at an average of 67 in the red-ball format so far.
 

Also, his numbers are not impressive in List A (50-over game) and T20s as well. He has seven wickets from 12 appearances across formats.
 

Meanwhile, England had to make a last-minute change to the squad as Harry Brook pulled out of the series due to personal reasons. Dan Lawrence has been named as his replacement. 
 

England’s updated squad for India Test series: Ben Stokes (c), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook (withdrawn, replaced by Dan Lawrence), Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Mark Wood
 

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