Regarding Leach's absence, Ben Stokes said, "We will turn to Bashir if we want to"

The Captain of England confirms the senior spinner's absence but expresses confidence in the rookie to step up

Jack Leach sustained a knee injury during the first Test, and Ben Stokes has confirmed that he will not be available for the second Test in Visakhapatnam.

On the first day of the Test match in Hyderabad, Leach injured his knee while fielding, and on the second morning, the problem got worse. Leach was confined to brief bursts for the remainder of the game, but he was still able to bowl 10 overs in the second innings and remove Shreyas Iyer, helping England to a historic 28-run victory.

Leach's deep bruise was expected to go away, but he was unable to participate in the training session on Wednesday at the ACA-VDCA cricket ground due to persistent swelling. Even with his compression tights on, his movements were still laborious.

Stokes will hold off on selecting his starting lineup until Thursday. After taking one last look at the field, he will decide whether to include an extra seamer for England. But he did confirm on Wednesday that Leach would not be participating because he had just returned from a layoff due to a stress fracture in his back.

Stokes declared, "He's out of the second Test." Sadly, the knock he received caused a hematoma in his leg. It's really unfortunate for both of us, especially Jack, who has clearly been out of the game with his back for a long time."Obviously, it's frustrating to have sustained that injury in your first game back. On the other hand, we evaluate it daily. That has been taken care of by the medical staff, so maybe it won't be too serious and keep him out of the series longer."

Shoaib Bashir, Leach's teammate at Somerset, is standing by. The uncapped offspinner's entry visa was delayed, so he arrived in India during the first Test. Stokes encouraged Bashir to take advantage of the chance in what would be his seventh first-class match now that he was back with the team and training.

"If he was to play on tour, then the great thing he has on his side is, what there lose?" stated Stokes. If he gets the chance to play, that is how I will be thinking about it—just making sure I give him the best experience I can. since your first Test match is something you play once. If he chooses to play, I will do everything in my power to make it entertaining and enjoyable for him.

"Brendon McCullum, myself, and vice-captain Ollie Pope, or Popey, will likely give it more thought. We examined the wicket; to give the impression that I knew what I was doing, I played around with it and gave it a tap. We have not brought Bash here to have an experience; he is a member of the squad. We will turn to him if that's how we feel."

On Sunday, the fourth day of the first Test, Bashir arrived in Hyderabad at 8.25 a.m. after flying back to London from the United Arab Emirates to get his visa sorted out. He took a shower and went straight to the ground. Stokes was encouraged by his eagerness to rejoin the team.

"I told Wayne Bentley, the England team manager, that Bash is under no obligation to stay here. Nevertheless, he expressed, "No, no, I'm staying for this." In pursuit of a target of 231, Bashir was rewarded with an exciting finish as fellow rookie spinner Tom Hartley took 7 for 62 to bowl India out for 202.

"It was great for him to see that on his first day back in the camp and to see what Test cricket can bring out, and what it is like," Stokes said. Although he would have seen it on TV beforehand, I believe it was beneficial for him to be in the dressing room and experience the emotion firsthand. He is aware of the experience, and ideally, it will motivate him to engage in it even more."

During his first-class debut for Somerset against Essex, Stokes bowled an impressive spell to Alastair Cook. He also revealed that he initially came into contact with Bashir through social media. Managing director Rob Key and McCullum received the ball from Stokes, who was already hooked even though Bashir would only take one wicket in the match's 49 overs.

"To be perfectly honest, Abu Dhabi was the first real live look I got at Bash," Stokes stated. "I saw him for the first time on Twitter. I believe a brief video of him bowling against Sir Alastair was put together by the County Championship account."Baz and Keysy are in a WhatsApp group that I'm in. After sending the video to someone, I said, "Take a look at this; it might work for our India tour," and things took off from there. He was chosen for the Lions tour, and we could tell that the coaches there gave us their full support."

If Bashir gets into the starting lineup, that would be an even more audacious decision than Hartley's selection for the first game of the series, given that the Lancashire spinner had played in 14 more first-class matches before earning his first cap. With six appearances, Bashir's total record is a meager 10 wickets at 67.

But Stokes thinks Bashir has the skills to succeed similarly in these circumstances, having guided his third rookie spinner to a five-wicket haul following Will Jacks and Rehan Ahmed's hauls in Pakistan last winter.

Saying, "I just saw something," he spoke. It was clear from the height at which he bowled that he gave the ball a lot of action and revolutions. I thought this might be beneficial for India when I looked at it. I've spent a lot of time playing games here. As a batter, you are aware of what is challenging, particularly when considering spin. To be honest, not a lot of thought went into Bash's selection because everyone was so impressed with what he demonstrated. And Bashir provided our spin group with the answers to everything we asked for."