Former England captain Michael Atherton praised young England rookie Shoaib Bashir for his impressive performance against India in the ongoing second test of the five-match series in India. Following the injury of England’s best spinner Jack Leach, the 20-year-old was given the opportunity to make his Test debut against India.

India won the toss and elected to bat first in their second Test, as England delivered another excellent bowling performance in batting-friendly conditions. England brought in James Anderson and Shoaib Bashir for the second test.

Shoaib Bashir missed out on his Test debut a week earlier in Hyderabad owing to a visa issue, but he was unable to join the England squad in India for the Hyderabad test.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Michael Atherton praised Shoaib Bashir’s approach on his debut, noting that the spinner appeared completely nerveless in his first game. The former cricketer-turned-commentator also remarked that the youngster possessed the necessary temperament for red-ball cricket and hailed him for his temperament throughout Day 1 of the game.

“For him to bowl as he did today, 28 overs, I think he looked completely nerveless. He bowled accurately throughout. And there is not much in the pitch for him or anybody else, to be honest.

“He gets quite a bit of bounce because of his height and the overspin that he gets on the ball. Obviously, the crowning moment for him was when he got Rohit Sharma out.”

“It is a huge wicket because India’s batting line-up is actually quite inexperienced for them. Shoaib got him early on, picked up a late wicket, and took a catch as well, so it couldn’t have really gone better for him.

“Most importantly of all, he showed he has got the temperament for the occasion today; a terrific day for him,” Michael Atherton said.

England was unlikely to change their winning combination after the first test in Hyderabad, but they were forced to make changes after Jack Leach was sidelined due to a knee injury. Leach was replaced by Shoaib Bashir, and the kid more than justified the team management’s faith in him.

The 20-year-old bowled the most overs of any England bowler on Day 1 with a decent economy rate of 3.57. He dismissed captain Rohit Sharma and all-rounder Axar Patel on a track that had little to give him before picking up the wicket of Mukesh Kumar to complete India’s innings.