"He's got everything as a spinner": Rob Key defends reason to pick Shoaib Bashir in England squad ahead of Jack Leach

London [UK], July 1 (ANI): Even though Shoaib Bashir is not a first-choice option, England men's managing director Rob Key stated that he is selecting the Test specialist spinner ahead of Jack Leach for the forthcoming series against West Indies, based as much on potential as performance.
Key stated that he was unable to overlook the character that Bashir showed during his debut series in India when he arrived with two five-wicket hauls and just ten first-class wickets in his limited opportunity with Somerset.
England have named a strong 14-member squad for the first two Tests against West Indies at home, to be led by Ben Stokes. Off-spinner Bashir will be the lead spinner for England with Jack Leach missing out.
Following a breakthrough tour of India in the spring, Bashir has been kept as the only specialist spinner in England's 14-man squad for the first two Test matches against the West Indies. He took 17 wickets in three Test matches. This is the case even though Bashir's England teammate Jack Leach, who had to leave the India tour early due to injury, is still the top spinner in Somerset, Bashir's home county, and he had to relocate to Worcestershire on loan this season.
But Key was confident his new choice would perform to the level demanded of a wicketkeeper in the Test match, similar reasoning underlies the choice of Bashir over Leach, who has been an integral member of England's Test attack in recent times and a dependable lieutenant of Stokes in particular, not to mention his pivotal contribution as a batsman in England's incredible victory at Headingley in 2019.
"I love watching what he did in India. That was a tough task for someone to come in and do what he did. And when you watch him bowl, you just think he's got everything, really, as a spinner. And he will get better. He's right at the beginning of his career now, so we're backing him to grow as time goes on. But this doesn't mean that Leach's time is done with us. If there's ever a time when we need a second spinner, in places like Pakistan, I'd imagine that would be Jack Leach," Key said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
The series will be the second edition of the Richards-Botham Trophy, with West Indies winning the inaugural edition in 2022. The first Test will be held from July 10 to 14 at the Lord's Cricket Ground while the second wil take place on 18 at Trent Bridge.
Squad: Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Dillon Pennington, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith and Chris Woakes. (ANI)