“I knew that if I did come on, I’d have a job to do and thankfully, I controlled the run-rate which was handy,” said Bashir.
Bashir’s success came despite a battle against a strong wind, which he bowled into for most of the day.
In three Tests in Pakistan, on surfaces offering plenty for the spinners, Bashir managed nine wickets at a cost of nearly 50 runs each. In Christchurch, he improved by dropping his pace, averaging 52.2mph compared to almost 58mph in Pakistan.
“I was bowling a touch slower but I was focusing on controlling my line with the wind,” he said.
“Because the wind was very strong, I was trying to focus on what I needed to do with my body to get the line I needed to bowl, which was outside off.”
Bashir has been elevated to England’s first-choice spinner ahead of Jack Leach and leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed.
Despite that, he remains behind Leach in the pecking order at Somerset and went on loan to Worcestershire during the summer.
Still, his 2,745 deliveries bowled in Test cricket this year is more than 500 than the next busiest bowler, Sri Lanka spinner Prabath Jayasuriya.
Only India’s Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin, with 49 and 46 wickets respectively, have more than Bashir’s 45 in 2024.
“I’m learning on the job and I’m not perfect,” said Bashir. “Two years ago I didn’t have a county. I’m just very, very thankful for what has happened over the last year.”
