England must withdraw from first Test after India's shameless Shoaib Bashir stunt

Shoaib Bashir will now miss the first Test against India. Photo: Getty Images/Harry Trump

Bashir's finest hour must now become his most terrible test. A place in the first Test is out of the question and a return to the second, starting February 2, will be increasingly under threat if India's intransigence continues. What if the visa doesn't go through at all? In what would be the ugliest echo of the D'Oliveira affair, then South African Prime Minister John Vorster's announcement that Basil D'Oliveira — as the so-called «Colored Coat» — would not be accepted as a member of the touring band. The British side demonstrated complete rejection of apartheid. England kept their nerve that time and canceled the 1968–69 series. Will Stokes' men follow suit?

Don't hold your breath. India's ability to bend cricket to its will is such that Stokes, who must privately harbor a burning rage, can only say that he is «disappointed». The calculation is that there is too much political capital at stake to rock the boat. But this particular dispute goes beyond politics. Disregarding Bashir is essentially a move based on race. And this is the outrage that England cannot tolerate.