IND vs ENG: Shoaib Bashir's 'Viral' Spell That Earned Him Ben Stokes’ Praise, Leading To Test Call-Up- WATCH

Following England captain Ben Stokes expressing his admiration for Shoaib Bashir's bowling after watching a clip on X (Twitter), the video has garnered significant attention and become viral.

Shoaib Bashir during IND vs ENG 1st Test in Hyderabad, after landing in India post India-visa troubles.

Source : PTI

England announced their playing XI for the second India vs England Test of the five-match series.The visitors made two changes, bringing in James Anderson for Mark Wood. Additionally, due to the injury to Jack Leach, young spinner Shoaib Bashir has been named as his replacement. Bashir is set to make his debut in the second Test, scheduled to commence on February 2 in Vizag. Meanwhile, a video featuring Bashir bowling to the former England captain Alatair Cook for Somerset against Essex in England’s domestic cricket has gone viral.

Following visa-delay issues that prevented Shoaib Bashir from arriving in time for the 1st IND vs ENG Test, he landed in India last month in Hyderabad. In anticipation of Bashir's Test debut, England captain Ben Stokes shared his admiration for the young spinner's bowling. Stokes revealed that he was impressed with Bashir after watching a clip of his performance on X (Twitter).

Bashir delivered an impressive spell during his first-class debut for Somerset against Essex, particularly bowling against Alastair Cook. Despite securing only one wicket, his bowling style caught the attention of Stokes, who believed Bashir's off-spin could prove valuable for the upcoming India tour. Impressed with the young cricketer's performance, Stokes shared Bashir's video clip with Somerset's managing director Rob Key and head coach Brendon McCullum.

Here’s The Video Of Bashir Bowling To Alastair Cook:

19-year-old off-spinner Shoaib Bashir has looked very assured on first-class debut

He's bowled beautifully to Sir Alastair Cook: here's all 25 balls of their morning contest#LVCountyChamp pic.twitter.com/WWvkg5iLOn

— County Championship (@CountyChamp) June 11, 2023

"To be perfectly honest, Abu Dhabi was the first real live look I got at Bash. The first time I saw him was on Twitter. I think the County Championship [account] put a little clip together of him bowling against Sir Alastair," Stokes said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

"I'm in a WhatsApp group with Keysy (Rob Key) and Baz (Brendon McCullum). I actually did forward the clip on and said, 'have a look at this, this could be something we could work with on our India tour' and it just progressed from there. He got selected on the Lions tour and obviously, the coaches on that tour fed everything back to us," Stokes told ESPNcricinfo.