England plucked Bashir from relative obscurity.
Stokes first saw him bowl for Somerset in a clip on social media, then shared it in his WhatsApp group with ECB managing director Rob Key and head coach Brendon McCullum.
Not long after, Bashir was in the England squad with just a handful of first-class appearances to his name.
In 19 Test matches, Bashir has taken 68 wickets at an average of 39. He has an economy rate of 3.78 and a strike-rate of 61.7.
His release point of 2.35m is third-highest recorded by a spinner, meaning he is likely to gain more of a slow bowler’s key weapon: bounce.
There is more to spin bowling than that, though, which also might partially explain why Bashir has not featured during to the Ashes.
According to CricViz, Bashir does not get as much drift and turn compared to off-spinners in Australia in the past five years, or indeed bowlers of this type in general across the world.
His natural length might also be an issue.
“Across his Test career Bashir’s natural length is about 4.67m, and he’s most successful with deliveries in the 4-5m length range where he averages 25.9 at a 48 strike-rate,” said CricViz analyst Srinivas Vijaykumar.
“Off-spinners in Australia in the past five years average 31 in the 4-5m length range and are more effective in the 5-6m length zone. When Bashir’s gone a little shorter in the 5-6m range his average jumps to 45.4.
“While globally in the same timeline, off-spinners’ success mirrors Bashir’s overall numbers but the disparity to the effectiveness in the 5-6m length range isn’t as big as Bashir’s.”