File photo of Ravichandran Ashwin.© BCCI
England’s young spinner Shoaib Bashir has garnered a lot of attention with his bowling skills on Indian pitches during England’s ongoing tour to the Asian nation. 20-year-old Bashir, a right-arm off-break bowler, made his England debut in Visakhapatnam on February 2. In his first game, he picked four wickets before missing the Rajkot match. Bashir adapted to the Indian conditions futher better when he played his second Test match in Ranchi. He picked 8 wickets in the game, leading England’s fightback.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan heaped praise on Shoaib Bashir and termed him the ‘next Ravichandran Ashwin’.
“It’s been a fantastic week for English cricket. One of the great weeks, celebrating another world-class superstar that we’ve unearthed, Shoaib Bashir. That’s what we’re celebrating. Second Test match, eight wickets, he’s the new Ravi Ashwin, and we’ve unearthed him. So, we’re celebrating a new superstar in English cricket,” Vaughan told Club Prairie Fire‘s YouTube channel.
India have taken an unassailable lead of 3-1 in the five-match series after winning the Ranchi Test by 5 wickets. While the hosts will aim to better the lead to finish things on a high, England too will eye a comeback. The final match is set to take place in Dharamsala.
Stating that England have been the better team in the series, Vaughan backed the visitors to win the final game.
“I think it’s going to be a fresh one in Dharamsala, so I expect England to win. They’ve been the better team in the series, as they were in the Ashes. If you go session by session, England have looked a better team. I’m saying looked a better team, but we don’t play series now to win them,” Vaughan said.
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