India v England: Shoaib Bashir and James Anderson named in squad for second Test

India v England: Shoaib Bashir and James Anderson named in squad for second Test

Shoaib Bashir has played only six first-class matches
Dates: 2-6 February Venue: Visakhapatnam Time: 04:00 GMT
Coverage: Live text commentary on BBC Sport website and app with daily Test Match Special podcasts on BBC Sounds.

Spinner Shoaib Bashir will make his senior England debut in the second Test against India in Visakhapatnam.

The 20-year-old replaces the injured Jack Leach in the squad, while James Anderson comes in for Mark Wood.

Bashir, a surprise selection for the tour, missed England’s 28-run win in the first Test after experiencing a delay in receiving his visa.

His Somerset team-mate Leach injured his left knee in Hyderabad and did not train on Wednesday.

The second Test starts on Friday.

Speaking on Wednesday, England captain Ben Stokes said he was first alerted to Bashir’s potential when he saw a video on Twitter, now X, of the then-19-year-old bowling on his first-class debut to England’s all-time leading Test run scorer Sir Alastair Cook.

“I just saw something,” Stokes said. “The height he bowled from, it was very obvious that he put a lot of action, a lot of revolutions on the ball. It was something I looked at and thought ‘this could be pretty good for India’.

“The height he delivers the ball from, the amount of natural variation that he can produce, is a handful out here. I’ve played a lot of games out here, as a batter you know what is hard to face, especially from a spin point of view.”

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England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Ben Foakes, Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir, James Anderson.

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