British government calls for fairness from India in visa process after Shoaib Bashir flies home

The UK government has called for fairness from India in arranging a visa amid Shoaib Bashir's ongoing struggles to enter India. The British government has come up with the intervention as captain Ben Stokes expressed his frustration over the youngster being denied a visa for the Test tour in India.

The 20-year-old was supposed to fly with the entire team and support staff on Sunday but was stranded with ECB's director of cricket operations Stuart Hooper in the UAE.

On Wednesday (January 24), it emerged that Bashir returned to London and as per reports, his visa has received a stamp of approval from the Indian High Commission in London.

An unnamed UK government spokesperson spoke to ESPN Cricinfo and said:

"The specifics of this case are a matter for Shoaib Bashir and the Indian Government. But we absolutely expect India to treat British citizens fairly at all times in its visa process. We have previously raised the issues British citizens with Pakistani heritage experience applying for visas with the Indian High Commission in London."

Other players of Pakistani heritage who have faced similar difficulties include Saqib Mahmood, Moeen Ali, and most recently Usman Khawaja.

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"Unfortunate he's had to go through something like this" - Ben Stokes empathizes with Shoaib Bashir

Ben Stokes. (Image Credits: Getty)

Stokes hopes to see the Surrey spinner in India over the weekend so he can focus on the remaining part of the tour. The 32-year-old said, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo:

Hopefully, we are going to see him back in India over the weekend. My feelings towards it haven't changed. It's obviously a frustrating situation - more importantly, for him. We announced our squad mid-December. It's now January 24 and he still doesn't have the visa. It's unfortunate he's had to go through something like this on his first experience of being in the England team."

England, meanwhile, have handed a debut to Tom Hartley, for the 1st Test against India in Hyderabad, which begins on Thursday (January 25).

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