England captain Ben Stokes said he is 'devastated' after spinner Shoaib Bashir's visa delay ruled him out of the first Test against India in Hyderabad, starting on Thursday, January 25.

The 20-year-old uncapped spinner has to return to the UK mid-way after finding him without an Indian visa for the tour. England are scheduled to play a five-Test series against India and the squad was named in mid-December but due to his Pakistani heritage, the process got delayed as both neighbouring countries are in tumultuous relations.

"Especially as captain I find it particularly frustrating. We announced that squad in mid-December, and now Bash finds himself without a visa to get here. I am more frustrated for him," ESPNcricinfo quoted Stokes as saying.

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"I didn't want this type of situation to be his first experience of what it's like to be in the England Test team. I feel for him," he added.

Stokes said he is 'devastated' to know that his squad member is not with them because of the visa issues but added that it is not the first time this has happened with the cricketer.

“But he’s not the first cricketer to go through this, I have played with a lot of people who have had the same issues. I find it frustrating that we have picked a player and he’s not with us because of visa issues. Especially for a young lad, I’m devastated for him. It’s a frustrating situation to be in, but a lot of people have been trying to get it through. It’s unfortunate and I’m very frustrated for him,” Stokes said.

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"Him not being able to be here rules him out. We didn't come here with preconceived ideas about what we will do with the first team. In India you do like to have a good look at the pitch to see how it might play. With Bash unfortunately not able to be here, it rules him out of this game," he added.

England team arrived in India on Sunday without Bashir, who stayed in Abu Dhabi in the hope of getting his Indian visa soon. Despite being born in Surrey and having a British passport, Bashir had to face the visa delay. Previously, Australia Usman Khawaja also faced a similar situation when he arrived for the Test series in India last year.

Pakistan cricket team also faced visa delays when they travelled for the ODI World Cup in October last year.