• Source:JND

England spinner Shoaib Bashir termed it a 'special day' to get India captain Rohit Sharma's wicket on his debut in the second Test in Visakhapatnam on Friday. Bashir missed the opening Test of the five-match series due to visa delay and had to return to London to get the issue resolved.

On the opening day of the match, the off-spinner had the best figures for the visitors with 2-100 and bowled the most overs by an English bowler. He got the wickets of Rohit (14) and Axar Patel (27) respectively from his 28 overs.

"It's been a very special, special day. For all that I've been through in the last two to three years, it made it even more special. To get Rohit Sharma out, my first wicket, feels incredible. He's a quality player, one of the best in the world and a great player of spin as well," said Bashir after the close of play.

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The delay in joining England's squad in India due to visa issues did not make any impact on the youngster's mindset as Bashir is happy to get his debut Test cap.

"No doubts at all, I always knew I would get the visa. It was a bit of a hassle but we're here now, I've made my debut, and that's all that matters. I was pretty chilled to be fair. I knew it would get sorted so thanks to ECB and BCCI for sorting out quite quickly," he said.

The 6.4 ft. tall spinner feels his height gives him an edge over other bowlers in the business.

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"(Growing up) Always been above average height, 6ft 4in does help with the spin I guess," he said on a lighter note.

"I could have been a bit more consistent with my lines but I'm just going to look back on this day and think getting Rohit Sharma out, I think that's all that matters really," he added.

Yashasvi Jaiswal's unbeaten 179 steered India to 336/6 before England clinched three wickets in the final session to make a slight comeback in the day. Bashir is hoping to get the early wickets on Saturday morning.

"I think we did well to get them six down towards the end of the day. Looking ahead we'll want to get a couple of early breakthroughs (and) then get batting," added Bashir.