England call upon uncapped Shoaib Bashir in hope that the 6ft 4in bowler can help them leave India in a spin, with Brendon McCullum’s side backing the 20-year-old to become their next world-class spinner

• England have named their 16-man squad for their tour of India in January 
• Brendon McCullum’s side have selected uncapped spinner Shoaib Bashir  
• Lancashire bowler Tom Hartley was another new face included in the squad  

England will throw a bowler with just six first-class games under his belt into the cauldron of a Test tour of India and back him to become their next world-class spinner.

Shoaib Bashir, at 20 and making his way at Somerset after being released at 17 by his native Surrey, joins the returning Jack Leach, teenager Rehan Ahmed and another uncapped slow bowler in Tom Hartley in a spin attack picked on promise rather than performance.

It is a punt based on England believing Bashir, with just 10 red-ball wickets to his name, has something about him that marks him out as potentially special and can help England take on India at their own game and on their own patch in next month’s five-Test series.

‘I think we’ve probably had only one world-class spinner since uncovered pitches and that’s Graeme Swann,’ said England managing director Rob Key after naming a 16-man squad for one of the toughest assignments in Test cricket.

‘We’re hoping Shoaib can end up being world-class and we are trying to put him on that road. He certainly has the potential. He has everything you want to see in an off-spinner. A bit of real craft, a bit of real guile and a decent character as well. His ceiling is very high.’ 

Somerset spinner Shoaib Bashir has been called up to England’s squad for their tour of India 

Standing at 6ft 4in tall, Bashir is one of several uncapped players to have been included in the squad, having taken ten wickets in the County Championship last season

He’ll be joined by fellow bowler Tom Hartley, who took 18 wickets for Lancashire last season

Mail Sport reported in September that England were looking at both Bashir and Hartley for this tour, not least because they feel both have the attributes to succeed in India.

Now they have got the nod over the experienced Liam Dawson, despite his outstanding record last summer, Will Jacks, who will be allowed to concentrate on T20 cricket, and Sussex’s Jack Carson, impressive on the Lions recent training camp in the UAE.

Hartley, at 24, also has a modest first-class record, with 18 Championship wickets last season for Lancashire, but England see him, at 6ft 4in, having the ability to replicate India’s Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel and fire the ball into turning pitches at a decent pace.

England have picked both Bashir and Ahmed who possess very different traits as bowlers

Bashir also stands at 6ft 4in, bowls quicker than the average spinner with huge hands and has, according to Key, one of the highest release points in the game.

But it is the 19-year-old leg-spinner Ahmed who looks sure to line up in the first Test at Hyderabad on January 25 ahead of both newcomers and alongside ‘leader of the attack’ Leach, who returns after proving his fitness in the UAE following a stress fracture of the back.

‘I’ve watched Rehan in the one-day series in West Indies and his development has been extraordinary,’ said Key in Barbados where England begin their T20 series on Saturday. ‘I’m so excited to see him go about his business.

‘When the pressure is on the most Rehan gets the ball and that’s a huge credit to him. Look at it this way. If it’s the last day of a game and you need to bowl a side trying to block for a draw out who do you want bowling? I take Rehan Ahmed.’

Surrey’s Gus Atkinson is the third uncapped player at Test level in the squad and joins Mark Wood as bowlers of extra pace alongside Jimmy Anderson and Ollie Robinson, who heads to India with something to prove after a disrupted summer with both England and Sussex.

Chris Woakes is the most notable seam bowling absentee following the retirement of Stuart Broad, with Key insisting plenty will still be seen of him in England next summer.

England’s bowling ranks, sadly, will not include Ben Stokes, with Key revealing the captain will be unable to turn his arm over in India after surgery on his chronic left knee.

Stokes, of course, is well worth his place on his batting alone and the leadership that has inspired the Bazball revolution but his continuing inability to play as a true all-rounder will again affect the balance of the side.

‘The surgery was a success and we are confident Ben will be able to play but we never had him down to be bowling in India,’ said Key. ‘It’s something to take slowly.

Speaking on Bashir’s selection, England’s managing director Rob Key claimed that the side were ‘hoping the spinner can become world-class’ as they gear up for a challenging India tour

But it is 19-year-old leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed who looks set to start for England on January 25

Ben Stokes will be unavailable for selection as he looks to recover from a chronic knee injury 

‘It actually makes selection simpler because the frustration comes when you don’t know whether Ben will bowl or not. It’s never simple with Ben but having clarity over what he can and can’t do means we can balance the side accordingly.’

What it does do, though, is make it harder for England to get keeper Ben Foakes back in the side. Foakes was outstanding in the Covid affected India tour of 2021 that England lost 3-1 but faces a battle to get the gloves back from Jonny Bairstow.

This will be the toughest test yet for the Stokes and Brendon McCullum Test revolution off the back of an epic drawn Ashes series last summer and the managing director has no illusions about the size of England’s task.

‘There’s no doubt this is one of the toughest series any side can have but it’s also an opportunity to do something great,’ added Key. ‘It’s going to be hard but I’m so excited about it.’

Bashir in the County Championship

• Shoaib Bashir made six first-class cricket appearances for Somerset last season.
• The 20-year-old made his County Championship debut in June. 
• He took ten wickets in his debut season at an average of 67.

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