SOMERSET spinner and now England future star Shoaib Bashir is really proud of his achievements representing his country.

After he put the frighteners on India by taking eight wickets across two innings in England's defeat in the fourth test, Bashir has proven he has what he takes for international cricket.

Speaking after the match he said: "It was a very special moment for me in my journey.

"Two years ago I wouldn't have thought anything like this would be possible, that was really special and quite emotional really.

"I lost my Grandad about a year and a half ago and they used to sit and watch test cricket all the time and their wish was to see me on the TV playing, I know they are supporting from above."

He also made clear that his teammates with England have been very supportive and always promoting confidence in his game.

"Stokesy and the boys are incredible, they give me so much confidence, that is in anything you do too, if it is me going out to bowl or me going out to bat, they're just so good confidence wise," he said.

England head coach Brendon McCullum has said Bashir has proven he can play at international cricket level and he hopes he gets plenty of opportunity in the County Championship this season ahead.

He acknowledged Somerset have their own interests to consider, but he said: “We’ve got to keep trying to get cricket into them.

“Whatever opportunity we can we’ll try and give it to them because there’s two guys (Bashir and Tom Hartley) there more than good enough for international cricket."

He added that Bashir and Hartley have got plenty to offer off the pitch as well and they will continue to develop if given the opportunity.

“They’re tough characters. We’ve seen both of them have big hearts. It doesn’t get any harder than it is right now and they’ve both stood up and performed so we’ve just to keep giving both of them chances," he said.

“It will be a slight frustration of ours if they weren’t given opportunities at county level. There’s a very real possibility that might be the case.

“But without wanting to dictate to counties because they have their own agendas, when you see performances like we have out of those two bowlers throughout the series, I think you’d be slightly mad if you didn’t give them more opportunities in county cricket.”