New Delhi
England fast bowler Saqib Mahmood has finally got a visa to tour India. Now he will be able to travel with his team to Kolkata on Friday, where the first T20 is to be held on Wednesday.
Pakistani-origin Mahmood’s visa was getting delayed, due to which he was not able to be a part of the team’s training camp in UAE. However, other team members Adil Rashid and Rehan Ahmed were soon granted visas.
In 2019, when the England Lions team was on the tour of India, Mahmood had to face similar problems. Even in 2024, when the Lancashire team was in India for a pre-season camp, Mahmood was not able to come to India. Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir also had to sit out of the first Test in Hyderabad last year due to delay in visa processes.
Mahmood was to be part of a fast bowling camp run by England fast bowling consultant James Anderson in Abu Dhabi, in which Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse and Mark Wood were taking part. But he could not do so because his passport was in the Indian Embassy.