NEW DELHI: Former India medium pace bowler Venkatesh Prasad schooled the England and Wales Cricket Board after English media and the ECB played a blame game regarding the visa refusal of the rookie off-spinner Shoaib Bashir.
The 20-year-old Bashir, who plays for Somerset in the English county, was forced to head back to England from the team’s Abu Dhabi training base after a prolonged wait for a visa.
“His visa needed to be stamped in the UK. The ECB sent Shoaib Bashir to the UAE, thinking it would be stamped in a third country. Not following basic procedures, assuming things and then crying foul is an old English way. If anyone, it is the ECB at fault,” he posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Later in the day, Bashir was granted a visa to play in the five-match Test series against India, bringing an end to the “frustrating” wait for the visiting team. The delay in the process left captain