Shoaib Bashir leaves Alastair Cook and Steven Finn purring after four-wicket haul - 'on the money'
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ByOli Gent
Updated 24/02/2024 at 12:31 GMT
TNT Sports expert Alastair Cook was full of praise for England bowler Shoaib Bashir, who took four wickets in an impressive showing in the fourth Test against India. Bashir, who had only played four games of first-class cricket before the tour, dismissed Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Ravindra Jadeja and - most crucially - Yashasvi Jaiswal to help keep India to 219-7 at the end of play.
‘On the money’ - Cook and Finn discuss the second-day performance of Bashir
TNT Sports expert Alastair Cook was full of praise for England bowler Shoaib Bashir, who took four wickets in an impressive showing on day two of the fourth Test against India.
England , with Joe Root reaching 106 - ending unbeaten on 122 - and the pressure was on the touring bowlers to ensure that the hosts could not gather momentum for a successful chase.
Rohit Sharma, the Indian captain, was sent back early by James Anderson, before Bashir stepped up to the line to dismiss Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar and Ravindra Jadeja.
The 20-year-old was the man to take the crucial wicket - Yashasvi Jaiswal - for 73 as the visitors strengthened their grip on the fourth Test.
Bashir, who had only played four first-class matches before England’s tour of India, had only made his professional debut for Somerset last year.
But now, he has the admiration of England’s all-time leading run scorer Cook, who thinks that those who selected Bashir also deserve some of the praise.
“We’ve got to give a huge amount of credit to the selection panel,” Cook said on TNT Sports. “To pick a guy that had only played four first-class games before going on an England tour. They haven’t tried to fit square pegs in round holes, they’ve gone: 'What do we need? We think we need tall spinners. We’re copying the Indians’ success… Axar Patel bowling it into the wicket. Who are our tall spinners?'.
“They picked Tom Hartley and Bashir, and if you’d have [asked] a lot of cricketers who the spinners were going to be, you wouldn’t have picked those two.
“Whoever made the big call on selecting both those two should take some credit, because it’s very easy to bash selectors when they get it wrong. But when they get it right, they deserve some credit.”
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‘That shot through’ - Bashir ball keeps low and Jaiswal chops on
Steven Finn, who played 36 Tests for England, hoped that the young bowler would get some sleep ahead of day three, when he would bowl again in pursuit of a “fifer”.
“They’ve somewhat done it the hard way, actually, he was released by the Surrey academy, trialled a little bit and was given a one-year contract by Somerset for last year, played these four games,” Finn said.
“Alastair Cook was looking for 10% of his match fee because of the couple of play and misses on social media that he was clipped in last year. But that’s why he wasn’t so flustered when he got out there in the Test-match arena.
“Things can go a million miles an hour when you’re out there on your debut, when you’re 20 years old. I don’t think he’ll get too much sleep tonight, because when you’re on four-for overnight, and you’re sniffing your first Test match fifer, and there are three tailenders out there waiting for their wickets to be taken, it’s like an electricity running through your body when you’re lying there imagining what might happen tomorrow.
“Hopefully he gets a few hours' sleep.”
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Highlights: India v England, fourth Test, day 2 as Bashir stars with the ball
Bashir had looked a tad nervous with the bat in the morning session as England were finally all out for 353, but Cook believed that captain Ben Stokes had looked after the youngster well ahead of England’s spell with the ball.
“[Stokes] captained him well,” Cook explained.
“We have to be honest, it wasn’t the best shot I’ve ever seen a No. 10 play when you’ve got England’s best-ever batsman at the other end on 120 not out.
“Stokesy recognised that and straight away he was the first spinner. He could have gone away to the leading wicket-taker in the series, Hartley, but he went straight for Bashir before lunch, as if to say, 'Don’t worry about that shot.'".
“I’m sure there was something about that shot that made Ben do it. The reason Bashir bowled a 30-odd-over spell is because he was on the money pretty much every single ball, and the pressure he created against the Indians, who didn’t bat very well today.
“I thought they struggled with the balance of attack and defence, and it’s not often that you say that against the home side not adjusting to the conditions well.”
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