"I find it particularly frustrating" - Ben Stokes on Shoaib Bashir's visa struggles ahead of India Test tour

England captain Ben Stokes expressed his frustration at Shoaib Bashir's delay in visa, thereby ruling him out of the opening Test against India. The all-rounder said he finds it hard to understand how there could be visa issues despite the squad announcement in mid-December.

The 20-year-old rookie spinner had to return to England to sort his visa issues out. The Surrey-born cricketer was to fly out to India with the entire team on Sunday, but was stranded in the UAE along with England's director of cricket operations.

Speaking at a press conference, Stokes said it's devastating to know that this is the youngster's first experience with the national team. The 32-year-old elaborated, as quoted by Sky Sports:

"I didn't want this type of situation to be his [Shoaib Bashir] first experience of what it's like to be in the England Test team. Especially for a young lad, I'm devastated for him. As captain I find it particularly frustrating. We announced the squad in mid-December and now Bash finds himself without a visa to get here. He's not the first cricketer to go through this. I find it frustrating that we have picked a player and he's not with us because of visa issues."

Bashir is one of the four spinners selected on the tour and is uncapped at the international level. He has also played only six first-class matches, snaring 10 scalps.

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"You've got to think about selection a lot more" - Ben Stokes on playing in India

Ben Stokes. (Image Credits: Getty)

Stokes also hinted at Joe Root sending down his off-breaks from the get-go depending upon the match-ups. The seam-bowling all-rounder also underlined the need to be a lot more meticulous with selection in India.

"It would be a complete and utter 'gut' thing, as most of my decisions like that are. You might even see Rooty taking the new ball, depending on what I feel. If (left-hander) Yashasvi Jaiswal opens the batting, you might see Rooty opening the bowling because it's spinning away from the bat."

"India is one of those places where you've got to think about selection a lot more than anywhere else in the world because of what you can get from the wicket."

The opening Test between India and England begins on Thursday (January 25) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.