'Shoaib Bashir is the new Ravi Ashwin'

Former England captain Michael Vaughan hailed young spinner Shoaib Bashir as the next Ravichandran Ashwin.

Playing only the second Test of his career, 20-year-old Bashir garnered a lot of praise for single-handedly helping England put up a fight with the ball in the 4th Test in Ranchi.

"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 said on Club Prairie Fire's YouTube channel.

Bashir, who has Pakistani heritage, missed the first Test due to a visa delay but was then thrown straight in for his debut in the second despite having played only six first class matches.
The 20-year-old justified his selection in his fourth over when he induced India captain Rohit Sharma to flick to Pope at short leg for his maiden Test victim and went on to take four wickets in the match.

The 1.93 metre (6ft 4in) tall off-spinner sat out the next but used his height to exploit the variable bounce in Ranchi for his first five-wicket haul on his way to eight in the match.

Vaughan also commended England skipper Ben Stokes for backing Bashir despite his limited first-class experience.

"Shoaib Bashir is one of the great selections .. No first class experience .. No huge amount of wickets in the games he has played .. just a gut feel .. brilliant from the England selectors .."  Vaughan took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to praise Shoaib Bashir's selection.