Image Credit- BCCI
In the fifth Test in
Dharamsala, Shoaib Bashir overcame a pre-match bout of sickness to grab four
first-inning wickets during another long stint, earning accolades from
England’s spin coach Jeetan Patel for his talent and tenacity. In light of
Bashir’s extraordinary ascent from obscurity on the county circuit, Patel also
pledged to continue assisting Bashir’s professional development once this
England tour concludes.
When named in the starting XI on Thursday morning, Bashir was still feeling
under the weather. He had been one of two England players, along with the
unselected Ollie Robinson, to have stayed back at the team hotel on the eve of
the Test rather than attending their final training session.
Bashir has bowled 44
more in India’s opening innings at Dharamsala despite this and after toiling
through 70 overs at Ranchi last week, which left him tending to a cut on his
spinning finger. In the final seconds of the day, he might have even secured his
second five-wicket haul of the series if Ben Stokes had managed to hold onto a
diving opportunity to slip off Kuldeep Yadav.
Instead, with eight wickets lost and an overwhelming lead of 255 having
amassed—thanks in large part to centuries from Rohit Sharma and Shubman
Gill—Bashir will return on day three. Patel praised England’s offence in
general and Bashir in particular for adhering to their game plan despite the
challenging circumstances of the contest.
“Look, it’s a
hell of an effort,” Patel said of Bashir’s role. “He was ill the day
before the game. He wasn’t well yesterday. And he’s still a little bit iffy
today, but to then go bang out 45 [44] overs and nearly knock off a five-for …
you could say he deserves it, but no one deserves anything in this game.
“It’s one of those things, he’s put in a hell of a shift for us. So has
Tom Hartley. So has Mark Wood, Jimmy Anderson, all the bowlers really, all the
fielders. To have them eight-down is a great sign going forward.
“We’re going to
have tough days in Test cricket. And today was one of them. If you put enough
hard yards in, eventually the circle turns and it comes back on you. There’s a
lot of tired guys in there and rightly so. They put in a big shift.”
Whatever that
immediate future holds, however, Patel promised he would continue to serve as a
mentor to his young spinners, even after the current tour is over.
“My work continues when they are not with England,” he told the BBC.
“I am not the sort of bloke who is going to leave them in the lurch. They
have jobs to do for their counties, and they will look like different jobs, but
it’s learning for them to grow again and then their skills in two years’ time
are better than they are now.