'Devastated' - Ben Stokes, PM Rishi Sunak react as Pakistan-origin England spinner Shoaib Bashir forced back home

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England spinner Shoaib Bashir has been forced to fly back from the UAE after being denied visa to travel to India for the 5-Test series against India starting January 25.

The uncapped 20-year-old player was left stranded in UAE in the UAE even as rest of the England players landed in India on Sunday. England head coach Brendon McCullum had expressed confidence that the ECB will solve the issue and Bashir would be in India soon to be available for selection for the first Test.

He has also revealed that the ECB has escalated the matter with the BCCI and the Indian government. Bashir was part of the training camp in the UAE ahead of the Test series against England.

England captain Ben Stokes has reacted strongly to the development, saying that he was devastated for the youngster. Stokes took a shot at the BCCI and Indian government by stating that Bashir wasn't the first player to face the issue.

Notably, Pakistan-born Usman Khawaja also faced a similar issue last year. He was issued a later visa, but was unavailable on time for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

"I didn't want this type of situation to be his first experience of what it's like to be in the England Test team," England captain Ben Stokes said.

"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 have played with a lot of people who have had the same issues.

"I find it frustrating that we have picked a player and he's not with us because of visa issues. It's a frustrating situation to be in but a lot of people have been trying to get it through."

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement that the UK expects all its citizen to be treated fairly by India.

"We do expect India to treat British citizens fairly at all times in its visa processes... And we have previously raised issues of British citizens with Pakistani heritage. We've raised the issues that some have raised about their experience applying for visas with the Indian High Commission in London."

The British Parliament's All Party Group for Cricket labelled the incident a "disgrace". The UK media has also fired shots on India. "India's petty muscle-flexing to block England's young Muslim spinner Shoaib Bashir from entering the country," UK tabloid newspaper Daily Mail has written.