Shoaib Bashir rejoined his England team-mates on Sunday after finally arriving in India with his delayed visa.

The uncapped spinner was unable to join the rest of the squad when they transferred from their training camp in Abu Dhabi last weekend due to a hold-up with his paperwork.

Although born in Surrey, the 20-year-old’s family heritage in Pakistan caused lengthier than expected checks and he was ultimately forced to fly back to London to receive a stamp at the Indian high commission.

He finally landed in Hyderabad on day four of the first Test and made his way to link up with the side at the Ranjiv Gandhi Stadium.

The 20-year-old made his way out to the field of play at the lunch break and was soon playing his part, feeding throws to head coach Brendon McCullum as he warmed up his slip catchers ahead of India’s fourth-innings chase.

England captain Ben Stokes had expressed sympathy for Bashir on the eve of the match, saying: “I’m pretty devastated that Bash has had to go through this.

“As a leader, as a captain, when one of your team-mates is affected by something like that, you get a bit emotional. It’s obviously a frustrating situation, more importantly, for him.”

The Somerset off-spinner could now come into contention for a Test debut next week in Visakhapatnam, with Jack Leach suffering from a knee injury.

England touched down in India without uncapped spinner Shoaib Bashir after a visa delay saw him grounded in Abu Dhabi.

The Test squad was already a man down after the news that Harry Brook had returned home for personal reasons and their number was thinned to 14 by the time they travelled from their training camp in the United Arab Emirates to Hyderabad.

There was a hold-up with Bashir’s paperwork, meaning he was unable to make the trip with the rest of the squad.

Bashir, who has a Pakistani background, was the only member of the touring party to experience such problems. There were reports of Pakistani fans and media struggling to gain visas for the recent World Cup in India.

The England and Wales Cricket Board is hopeful the issues will be ironed out after calling for assistance from its hosts but with the first Test starting on Thursday, there is precious little time.

“Bash will join us hopefully tomorrow, he’s got a couple of issues with his visa coming through,” said head coach Brendon McCullum.

“We’re confident on the back of the help from the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and the Indian government that it will sort itself out pretty quickly as well.

“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. We’ve also got a little bit of support out there for him so he’s not on his own.

“We’re hoping the news will come through today that his visa has been approved, then we’ll get him to sink his teeth into this series.”

McCullum also offered his support to Brook, who left the squad over the weekend to be with his family.

There is no date for his return but the lines of communication remain open and Brook will be making the decision.

“Obviously our thoughts are with Harry and his family, it’s a tough time. It’s a privileged position to play cricket for a living but some things are more important than that,” said McCullum.

“There’s a chance he may return later in the tour but for now we just want him to be with his family and do his thing. We’ll just keep talking.

“When he says he might be ready, when that conversation starts to happen, cool. If that doesn’t happen then that’s OK as well.”