England's Stokes Devastated At Bashir Visa Row
England skipper Ben Stokes said Wednesday he was "devastated" visa issues had stopped teammate Shoaib Bashir from entering India for a five-Test series, as his counterpart said he hoped the matter wou
England skipper Ben Stokes said Wednesday he was "devastated" visa issues had stopped teammate Shoaib Bashir from entering India for a five-Test series, as his counterpart said he hoped the matter would be "quickly" resolved.
Britain-born Bashir, a 20-year-old 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 opener in Hyderabad following a delay in his visa application.
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"I'm pretty devastated that Bash has had to go through this," Stokes told reporters in Hyderabad.
"When I first found the news out in Abu Dhabi, I did say we shouldn't fly until Bash gets his visa, but that was a little bit tongue in cheek," the England captain said.
"I know it's a way bigger thing, doing that. That was probably just (my) emotions around the whole thing.
"There was never a chance that we were not going to travel around this, but Bash knows he's had our full support."
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