England pacer Saqib Mahmood. (FILE photo)
England will travel to India for a five-match T20I series and a three-match ODI series starting next week. The visitors left for Kolkata on Friday where the first game will be played.
However, pacer Saqib Mahmood would join the team late as his visa was granted belatedly. Because of the initial delay, the 27-year-old missed the training camp in UAE.
This is not the first time an England player of Pakistan origin had issues with visas. Last year Shoaib Bashir too had issues with the same and he missed the first Test in Hyderabad.
Bashir’s visa application was made in December 2023, along with all of his England teammates, after the touring party was announced. But while the other players, as well as the coaching and support staff, received their visas well in time, the 20-year-old Bashir had to stay back in the UAE where the England squad had a pre-tour training camp before leaving for India.
The Somerset off-spinner eventually had to return to England when it was reportedly said that he had to present himself personally at the Indian High Commission to get a visa.
Leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, another England player with Pakistani roots, was also in the squad but he has been allowed in as he possessed the necessary documents having been one of the standbys for the World Cup held in India in October-November.
England ODI Squad – India Tour & ICC Men’s Champions Trophy:
Jos Buttler (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Saqib Mahmood, Phil Salt, Mark Wood
England T20I Squad – India Tour:
Jos Buttler (c), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood, Phil Salt, Mark Wood
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