England’s Jack Leach will miss the second Test against India due to an injury, creating an opportunity for his Somerset team-mate Shoaib Bashir to potentially make his international debut.
Leach, a left-arm spinner, played a limited role in England’s 28-run victory in the series opener, as he suffered a knee injury during the match. According to Ben Stokes, Leach has been ruled out for the second Test due to a haematoma resulting from the knock he took in the previous game.
Shoaib Bashir faced a visa issue last week but managed to resolve it and return in time to witness England’s triumph in the first Test. The 20-year-old off-spinner has limited experience, but England may consider him for the upcoming match following a successful Test debut by rookie left-arm spinner Tom Hartley last week.
“To be perfectly honest, our training camp in Abu Dhabi was the first real live look I got at Bash,” Ben Stokes said. “The first time I saw him was on Twitter. I think the County Championship put a little clip together of him bowling against Sir Alastair (Cook).
“I just saw something. With the height he bowled from, it was very obvious that he put a lot of action, a lot of revolutions, on the ball.”
Related – Watch: Joe Root shines ball off Jack Leach’s head