Ben Stokes is weighing up an England debut for spinner Tom Hartley in Thursday’s first Test against India and is even considering throwing the new ball to Joe Root as he tries to find a winning formula in Hyderabad.

England have promised to do things differently as they look to unseat a team who have lost just three of their past 46 Tests on home soil and captain Stokes remains fully committed to pushing the boundaries of ‘Bazball’.

Stokes is not yet fit to bowl after recovering from knee surgery and his confirmation that Ben Foakes would return as wicketkeeper and bat at seven means there are only four bowling slots to play with.

While James Anderson and Mark Wood are still likely to share pace duties, the possibility of going all in on spin by picking Hartley as well as the established Jack Leach and teenager Rehan Ahmed is being openly discussed.

So too, improbably, is the idea of using Root’s part-time off-breaks as a wildcard at the start of the innings.

“It would be a complete and utter ‘gut’ thing, as most of my decisions like that are,” said Stokes.

“You might even see Rooty taking the new ball, depending on what I feel. If (left-hander) Yashasvi Jaiswal opens the batting, you might see Rooty opening the bowling because it’s spinning away from the bat.

“When picking the team it’s about what you think is going to give you the best chance of winning and who is going to offer you more in certain conditions.

“India is one of those places where you’ve got to think about selection a lot more than anywhere else in the world because of what you can get from the wicket.”

Hartley was identified as a player who could cause problems with his height and skiddy trajectory and Stokes appears increasingly tempted to put the selectors’ hunch to the test.

“I’ve done plenty of tours here and think I would have some idea around what a bowler can look like here who will be successful,” he said.

“Tom is someone who’s obviously very tall, he bowls at a very difficult pace to be able to handle out here and he’s someone who gets a lot of natural variation. In India that is sometimes the hardest thing to face.”

On a personal level, Stokes is feeling in good order after undergoing surgery in November to remedy a long-standing left knee problem. While precise details have been vague in the past, Stokes confirmed he had stitches in his meniscus and a “big bone spur” removed.

He has since lost around 10 kilograms in a bid to ease the pressure on the joint and, although he is not planning to bowl competitively again until the summer, hopes to be conquering the fitness struggles which have dogged him for at least two years.

“Obviously the less weight you’re carrying, the less weight you’ve got going through your knee and the quicker your recovery is,” he explained.

“I’ve worked very hard to get myself into this condition. Hopefully it is something that will give me a little bit longer. We’re getting to that point you know, I’m 32 now, sport and everything like that isn’t here forever. I want to play for England as long as I possibly can. The older you get, the harder you work.

“I think it’s allowed me to progress a lot quicker than we actually thought. It’s been a long one, but something that I’m proud of myself for, with how hard I’ve worked to get into this position.

“Surgery is always the last option. Some can go very well, but they can also sometimes not go too well, set people back even further and potentially even end careers.”

Unease over the treatment of young England spinner Shoaib Bashir has escalated on the eve of the Test series in India after he was forced to fly home to resolve visa complications.

Bashir, a 20-year-old British Muslim of Pakistani heritage, was the only member of the touring party to experience a significant delay over his application and remained grounded after a training camp in Abu Dhabi while his team-mates transferred to Hyderabad.

The England and Wales Cricket Board had hoped the matter could be resolved in the United Arab Emirates – where its managing director of operations Stuart Hooper remained with Bashir – but a solution was not found.

The ECB called in assistance from its counterparts at the Board of Control for Cricket in India and it is understood Bashir was told he needed to return to London with his passport to receive the correct approval at the Indian embassy.

Although Bashir had been unlikely to feature in Thursday’s first Test, he has formally been taken out of contention for a debut due to the setback. It is hoped he will be reunited with the squad at some point over the weekend.

The England camp has been left disappointed by events, with captain Ben Stokes expressing his own regret at Bashir’s maiden voyage in international cricket turning sour.

“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. Especially for a young lad, I’m devastated for him,” he said.

“As captain I find it particularly frustrating. We announced the squad in mid-December and now Bash finds himself without a visa to get here.

“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. 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. With Bash unfortunately not able to be here, it rules him out of this game.”

The Somerset prospect is the latest cricketer of Pakistani descent to face difficulty getting into India, with Usman Khawaja belatedly joining Australia’s tour of the country last year and Lancashire’s Saqib Mahmood withdrawn from an England Lions trip after similar problems back in 2019.

The Pakistan Cricket Board, meanwhile, wrote to the International Cricket Council ahead of the recent World Cup to complain about hold-ups in its squad’s visas for the tournament in India, while some of the country’s media representatives also had trouble.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: “I can’t speak to the process and what’s happened in this individual case. I’m not aware we’ve had the details of this case raised with us by individuals involved and individual cases would be a matter for the Indian government themselves. But we have raised the issue more broadly and our position is that British citizens should be treated fairly when going through this process.”

England head coach Brendon McCullum appeared relaxed about the situation at the start of the week, when a quick fix was still thought to be on the cards.

“We’re confident on the back of the help from the BCCI and the Indian government that it will sort itself out pretty quickly,” he said.

“Things take time, don’t they? Everyone is doing what they can. It’s a process we need to go through and we’re pretty confident that we’re close.”

That confidence ultimately proved to be misplaced, leaving England with a diplomatic headache they did not need and a young player in the glare of a news story he had no part in creating.

Morocco head coach Walid Regragui says Bayern Munich defender Noussair Mazraoui could be fit in time to face Zambia in the Atlas Lions’ final Africa Cup of Nations Group F clash.

Mazraoui sustained a muscle tear in last month’s Champions League contest at Manchester United and did not feature in the group leaders’ first two matches of the tournament, a 3-0 victory over Tanzania followed by a disappointing 1-1 draw against the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Regragui’s men will look to secure top spot and ensure they advance to the knockouts with a win on Wednesday night, when Mazraoui might make a comeback despite reports Bayern have been attempting to have the player return to his club.

He told Moroccan media: “I don’t know where you got the information that Bayern Munich wants to recall him but we have all the rights to him during this Africa Cup of Nations.

“He is with us. Besides, it’s possible that he will play tomorrow.

“There are no easy matches. We want to aim for first place.

“We deserve this qualification. We have no time to rest, we are focused on bringing home three points. It’s going to be a tactical match against Zambia. It’s a good opposition.

“We have no absentees. We are on our tournament plan. We gave up a lot of energy (against DRC) but that’s how it is.

“We are prepared. We have high level players. We have a quality squad.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Monday revealed the organisation would be investigating both the Royal Moroccan Football Federation and Congolese Association Football Federation following a post-match incident in the draw that led to DRC captain Chancel Mbemba receiving a torrent of racial abuse.

Regragui, who was involved in a confrontation with the former Newcastle defender, has categorically denied there was any racist element to their heated encounter.

Zambia have drawn eight of their last nine matches at AFCON, including 1-1 draws against DRC and a 10-man stalemate with Tanzania to open this edition

They enter the contest third in Group F and trailing Morocco by just two points, level on two with second-placed DRC, so it remains all to play for.

Head coach Avram Grant told a press conference: “We already know that Morocco is a big team but we are not afraid of them.

“We will play them and I hope we will put up a good performance. We will have to show character,” he said

“That’s what we try to do every day, get better. And on all levels. Since I have been coaching this team, we have progressed in several areas but we must continue.

“Even when you become champion, you have to continue to improve the team.”

Some famous colours were carried to victory at Newbury on Tuesday when Gaye Legacy came with a late run to win the Ray Dalfsen Mares’ Handicap Hurdle.

Gaye Legacy’s dam Gaye Memories was out of a half-sister to Gaye Brief and Gaye Chance, the former famously winning a Champion Hurdle and the latter a Stayers’ Hurdle for Mercy Rimell, who took over at the famous Kinnersley yard that was put on the map by her husband, Fred.

Upon her retirement Rimell still owned horses, arguably the most famous of which was Simon, brother of Gaye Memories, trained by John Spearing, and it was those claret with blue spots silks that were on show at Newbury.

Gaye Legacy is owned by the Chase The Dream partnership and Mrs Robin Knipe, otherwise known as Scarlett Knipe, daughter of Fred and Mercy.

Scarlett’s late husband Robin also bred the likes of Master Oats and Thistlecrack so it is a family steeped in racing history, which winning trainer Tom Symonds was well aware of.

“It’s wonderful and the mare was really tough today under a good ride by Ben (Poste), I thought she was unlucky at Kempton last time and she proved that today,” said Symonds after the 11-2 success.

“Given there is stamina in abundance like it is in her pedigree you have lots of options. She’s still a novice and there’s the Listed race at Doncaster on March 2, so depending how she rates after today we’ll see. Three miles is easy enough for her. She’s not very big, but I think she will jump fences.”

He added: “It’s thrilling for Scarlett to keep her eponymous family going. When Scarlett lost Gaye Memories, the sister to Simon and Gaye Legacy’s mother, her own mother Mercy not long after died so she bought this mare in her memory, hence the name.”

The card began with two divisions of a two-mile maiden hurdle, sponsored by BetVictor.

The opener saw a very nice performance from Dan Skelton’s Be Aware (11-1), who was making his debut but looked the part under Harry Skelton.

“That was a lovely performance, he’s a horse we’ve liked since we got him but to be honest we’ve been trying to keep the lid on him as he’s by Martaline and he can be immature a bit at home,” the jockey told Sky Sports Racing

“We’ll see how we go. You do try to turn them into chasers and he’s got size and scope. We’ve just got to look after him, he’s got a lot of talent.”

The second division went to Into The Park (9-4 favourite), trained by Philip Hobbs and Johnson White.

Warren Greatrex’s Abuffalosoldier (10-1) defied top-weight in the Remembering Bob Olney Novices’ Handicap Chase, while Gary Moore’s Issar d’Airy (11-10 favourite) followed up a recent win at the track but found life tougher under 8lb more, beating I’d Like To Know by a short head.

Ben Pauling’s Roysse (6-1) looks to have a future given how strongly he travelled in the concluding bumper before tiring a little late on, beating previous winner Jurancon by two and a half lengths.

England’s midfield options for their Guinness Six Nations opener against Italy are dwindling after Ollie Lawrence and Oscar Beard withdrew from Steve Borthwick’s squad because of injury.

Hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie has also been replaced in a triple setback as the squad departed for their pre-Championship training camp in Girona.

Beard suffered concussion in Harlequins’ European victory over Ulster on Saturday while Cowan-Dickie was replaced early in the second half of Sale’s defeat by La Rochelle a day later because of an undisclosed medical condition.

Ollie Lawrence finished Bath’s loss at Toulouse on Sunday but there are no details of his injury.

Bath’s Max Ojomoh and Will Muir have been called into England’s 36-man Six Nations squad to plug the gaps in midfield, while Jamie Blamire of Newcastle replaces Cowan-Dickie.

If he is definitively ruled out against Italy on Saturday week, Lawrence will be a significant loss given he was expected to form a centre partnership with Henry Slade at the Stadio Olimpico.

Lawrence has been a force for Bath this season and, crucially, is able to switch from his preferred position at 13 to 12 where England are short of credible options.

Slade has filled inside centre in the past but is a better fit at outside, leaving the uncapped Fraser Dingwall in pole position to secure the number 12 jersey.

Beard will still travel to Girona as he completes the return to play protocols for concussion but Cowan-Dickie will remain at home to see a specialist.

Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw have returned to Manchester United training ahead of the FA Cup fourth-round trip to Newport.

Erik ten Hag’s side have endured a poor campaign punctuated by key absentees, but the Red Devils’ injury issues are finally beginning to ease.

Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez returned to the squad as United drew 2-2 with Tottenham last time out, with the latter coming on as a 63rd minute substitute in the January 14 Premier League fixture.

United play their first match since then in Sunday’s FA Cup trip to League Two outfit Newport, where Maguire and Shaw look to set to feature having returned to training.

Maguire has missed the last six matches in all competitions since sustaining a groin complaint against Bayern Munich in the Champions League on December 12.

The rejuvenated former United skipper was pictured in training at the club’s Carrington training base on Tuesday, as was left-back Shaw.

The England full-back has only managed 10 appearances in what has been an injury-interrupted campaign, with his most recent outing coming in the December 23 defeat at West Ham.

Amad Diallo, who has been absent from the previous two squads, was also pictured with Ten Hag’s group.

But there was no sign of Anthony Martial, Tyrell Malacia, Victor Lindelof or Mason Mount in the images. Andre Onana and Sofyan Amrabat remain at the Africa Cup of Nations.

DR Congo head coach Sebastien Desabre is determined to ensure his side’s fate remains solely in their hands with victory over Tanzania.

A win against the Taifa Stars on Wednesday will guarantee DR Congo a birth in the last 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations, with Morocco taking on Zambia in the other fixture in Group F.

Morocco currently top the table with four points, with DR Congo and Zambia on two points and Tanzania bottom with a single point from two games.

The top two teams from each of the six groups will advance to the last 16, along with the four best third-placed sides.

“We intend to give our best,” Desabre said. “We are confident and concentrated on the task. We are playing to win and its very important that we win.

“We need the victory and we also want to qualify because that is very important. We do not want to find ourselves in a situation of making calculations.

“We want to win and gain automatic qualification because anything less than that puts our fate outside of our hands.”

Tanzania assistant coach Hemed Suleiman will again take charge of the side against DR Congo after Adel Amrouche’s meltdown following the 3-0 loss to Morocco saw him banned for eight games and subsequently sacked.

“It’s a final for us,” Suleiman said.

“We tried to work on our problems. These games are hard but there is solidarity in the group.

“Ours for now is to focus on tomorrow’s game. We have to forget about the previous games and focus on this new task.”

South Africa coach Hugo Broos knows his side will be in a “tricky situation” if they lose their final Africa Cup of Nations group game to Tunisia.

Broos is slightly underplaying matters as Bafana Bafana will exit the competition with defeat, with reports in South African media suggesting he will be sacked if they go out.

A win or a draw will see them advance to the knockout stages while Tunisia, after taking just two points from their opening two games, must win and hope Mali’s match with Namibia goes in their favour.

“Our first goal was to achieve the second round and pass the group stage,” Broos said on the tournament’s official website.

“Our opponent has a slight advantage since they have had a day more to prepare.

“However, after Sunday’s big victory (over Namibia), we have a boost of energy. The team will be ready.

“We know Tunisia is a great team. I think they underestimated Namibia, the match against Mali is what we will analyse. We will fight every second for a good result.

“It will be a very heated game. They are under pressure but the same applies to us because if we lose, it will be a tricky situation.”

Tunisia must win to have any chance of progressing.

Their boss Jalel Kadri said: “We know people are expecting a lot from us. We are in a difficult group and need to play well in order to succeed.

“We have to start with high concentration in the match. We have several players with experience, but we still need to work hard to get the victory.

“South Africa has a team of players who have experience on the continent from Mamelodi Sundowns. Tunisia needs to use its strength. SA is good offensively and we should be ready for that.”

The Miami Heat are in first place, but their offence ranks as one of the worst in the NBA.

The Heat strengthened their offence Tuesday by trading for Terry Rozier of the Charlotte Hornets.

To complete the deal, Miami is sending veteran Kyle Lowry and a 2027 first-round draft pick to Charlotte.

The trade was reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Rozier should provide an immediate impact for the Heat, who rank 26th in scoring with an average of 110.9 points per game.

The 29-year-old is averaging career highs of 23.2 points per game and 6.6 assists. He is also shooting a career-best 45.9 per cent and hitting an average of 2.8 3-pointers per game.

He is making $23.2million this season and under contract for two more seasons, and leaves a Charlotte team that is 10-31 to join a Miami club that sits atop the Southeast Division with a 24-19 record, but has lost its last three games.

The defending Eastern Conference champion Heat have had some issues with their offence, scoring fewer than 100 points in three of their last four games. On the season, they've scored fewer than 100 points 10 times, and only the Hornets (12) and Trail Blazers (12) have had more game of being held to double digits.

Lowry had come off the bench in Miami's last two games after being in the starting lineup in each of his first 35 appearances of the season for the Heat.

A six-time All-Star and 2019 NBA champion with the Raptors, Lowry hasn't had much of a presence in Miami's rotation lately, totalling just 10 points, 18 assists and 15 rebounds in the last five games he's played.

The 37-year-old Lowry is in his 18th NBA season and is on a $29.7million expiring contract.

One-time Derby hope Reach For The Moon could yet have a starring role for the royal family after being entered for the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

The five-year-old had been viewed as a potential Classic contender for the late Queen in 2022 after winning the Group Three Solario Stakes as a juvenile, but an injury dashed those hopes and the son of Sea The Stars struggled to regain his form.

Out of luck in five subsequent starts, Reach For The Moon was last seen when beating just three horses in last year’s Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot, on what transpired to be his final start for John and Thady Gosden.

Now with Jamie Snowden, Reach For The Moon has yet to jump a hurdle in public, but his trainer feels his Flat rating of 105 merits at least having the Festival option, should things fall into place ahead of the March 12 feature.

Snowden said: “He was obviously a very good horse for John and Thady Gosden and he was a leading contender at one stage for the 2022 Derby.

“He had a few little issues on the Flat hence the reason why he has ended up jumping with us as opposed to doing anything else.

“With a horse that has that kind of rating on the Flat, we have to give him an entry in the Supreme, but we will see how he takes to everything over the next month to six weeks.

“Racing is steeped in the tradition of the royal family. The Queen Mother loved it, and the late Queen was a big supporter of the sport.

“It is wonderful that the King and the Queen are supporting racing as much as ever before.

“They have got a nice team on the Flat, and it was great to see them have a Royal Ascot winner last year in Desert Hero, who won the King George V Stakes.

“We have got some nice horses for them and hopefully Reach For The Moon can fly the flag high. We are lucky to have a horse of his talent and hopefully we can do him justice.”

Snowden has been satisfied with Reach For The Moon’s recent progress but has yet to decide on a starting point over obstacles for the gelding, who is owned by the Queen and former Arsenal chairman Sir Chips Keswick.

Snowden added: “He is a very talented individual and has taken well to his jumping. He did a lot of jumping when he came in off the Flat and then he went for a bit of a break back at Sandringham.

“He worked around the bowl (a gallop in Lambourn) nicely and his jumping is great. Hopefully he will be ready to run mid-February.

“We will see how he progresses and runs first time out over hurdles and then we will make a decision.

“We don’t need to make any big decisions just yet, but we have stuck the Supreme entry in as if you aren’t entered, you can’t run.

“He is a very exciting horse to have in the yard and it is great to have the support of the royal family.”

Barry Robson knows more than most what to expect from St Johstone boss Craig Levein when he takes his Aberdeen side to McDiarmid Park on Wednesday night.

The Dons manager was captain at Dundee United under Levein, who was also his boss at international level with Scotland.

Both are now dugout adversaries and the former Aberdeen, Middlesbrough and Celtic midfielder is looking forward to the cinch Premiership meeting in Perth.

“First and foremost, Craig Levein is a really good manager,” said Robson, who is frustrated that defender Jimmy McGarry could be out for another two weeks with a hamstring problem.

“I worked under him, I was his captain at Dundee United and I was with him at Scotland as well.

“I have lots of respect for him. I think he’s been a terrific manager over the years who knows exactly what he’s doing.

“He never gave me an inch as a captain or as a player either let me tell you, but very enjoyable to work under, demanding. I enjoyed it. Learned a lot.

“Good coach. Good manager. I get on very well with Craig, I have a lot of respect for him, but it doesn’t take away from me wanting to take the team down there and wanting to win.

“He will want to win, but I definitely want to go down there and pick up three points.

“Tomorrow’s game is really important just like every other game.

“It is a difficult game and it is always a hard place to go and play and get results. We understand that we know that, it will be a game that we have to go down and as I said, perform as well as we can.”

Namibia are relishing the opportunity to make history when they take on Mali in their final Africa Cup of Nations Group E match, head coach Collin Benjamin has said.

The Brave Warriors are looking to make it into the knockout rounds for the first time in a campaign that has already seen them register their maiden victory in the competition, 1-0 against Tunisia in their opener.

Having subsequently been thumped 4-0 by South Africa, Benjamin’s side are currently third in a pool that sees Mali top with four points, the Bafana Bafana second with three like them, and Tunisia bottom with one.

And he told a press conference ahead of Wednesday’s contest in San-Pedro Stadium: “We will not rely on other teams’ performance for qualification.

“We have the chance to write history for our country, and we look forward to the game.”

Namibia captain Peter Shalulile said: “Why should we wait for others to do us favours when we can do the job ourselves?

“We will show up tomorrow and give the game all we have got, and leave the rest to God.”

The shock result in Namibia’s opening game in the Ivory Coast was against opponents sat 87 places higher than them in FIFA’s world rankings, with Tunisia currently in 28th spot.

Wednesday’s clash at Laurent Pokou Stadium pits them against a Mali outfit ranked 51st who defeated South Africa 2-0 in their first fixture.

Eric Chelle’s team then battled out a 1-1 draw with the Tunisians in their second group game on Saturday.

Mystical Power, ante-post favourite for the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, leads the way as bumper entries for the Cheltenham Festival contests were revealed.

Willie Mullins’ charge is bred to be a Prestbury Park superstar as a son of Champion Hurdle-winning mare Annie Power and the late Flat supersire Galileo and he propelled himself to the head of affairs for the two-mile curtain raiser with a seven-length stroll in the Grade Two Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle at Punchestown earlier this month.

However, he is certainly not the only key contender for the Closutton team with 25-length Leopardstown winner Ballyburn also to the fore and Mullins responsible for 23 of the 63 initial entries.

Jeriko Du Reponet is the leading home-trained hope for Nicky Henderson, while Gordon Elliott is another with plenty to pick from, headed by Caldwell Potter, Farren Glory and Firefox.

As is usual at this early stage, plenty hold more than one Festival ticket, with Ballyburn at the top of the ante-post betting for the Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle, which is run over two miles and five furlongs.

Mystical Power is also entered in that, although stablemates Readin Tommy Wrong and Ile Atlantique, who finished first and second in a Naas Grade One, have been popular picks so far.

Farren Glory and Caldwell Potter also feature on a list of 86 entries, with the Harry Fry-trained Gidleigh Park the shortest-priced British runner after winning each of his three starts to date.

Mullins appears to hold the aces in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, with Readin Tommy Wrong, High Class Hero, Lecky Watson and Loughglynn filling the top of the ante-post lists, with Paul Nicholls’ Challow winner Captain Teague, who is also entered in the Baring Bingham, rated the main opposition by the bookmakers in a race with 63 entries.

The JCB Triumph Hurdle bucks the Mullins trend with Burdett Road the current favourite for trainer James Owen having won each of his two starts over obstacles, both victories being registered in impressive style.

Ex-French runner Sir Gino is next best for Henderson after hacking up by 14 lengths on his British bow, while the Mullins-trained Storm Heart is the shortest-priced Irish contender at this point having won by 22 lengths on his debut for the team.

The 44 entries also include the Harry Derham-trained Givemefive, Monday’s Warwick winner who is owned by golf Major winners Graeme McDowell and Brooks Koepka.