(Cricket News) After a delay, local authorities came up with a temporary solution that allowed Rehan Ahmed to travel to the team’s hotel with the rest of the touring party. England is waiting to hear whether Rehan Ahmed will be available to play in the third Test of their series in India this week.
The ECB acknowledged that a “paperwork discrepancy” caused a hold-up at Hirasar Airport in Rajkot that was only resolved by the issuance of a temporary visa. Rehan was initially barred from re-entering India on Monday evening following England’s mid-series break in Abu Dhabi because he only held a single-entry visa.
The leg-spinning all-rounder, Rehan Ahmed, trained with his teammates at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Tuesday and is expected to receive clearance to remain in India shortly. He looks set to retain his place in England’s team for the third Test, which starts on Thursday.
“We were advised, on returning to India, that there was paperwork discrepancy with Rehan Ahmed’s visa,” an ECB spokesperson said on Tuesday. “The local authorities at Rajkot Airport were supportive, enabling Rehan entry on a temporary visa.”
The problem arose weeks after Shoaib Bashir, a Pakistani national, missed the first Test in Hyderabad due to a delayed visa application. He finally arrived on January 28, the fourth day of the first Test, having first spent time in Abu Dhabi, where England held their pre-tour training camp, before traveling back to the UK to have his visa stamped. Bashir made his debut in the second Test at Visakhapatnam.
Rehan shares Pakistani ancestry with Bashir and was born in England, but he entered the country without any issues thanks to a visa he obtained in October while serving as a backup player for England’s World Cup squad.
His delay, which appears to have been caused by a clerical error by the ECB, is a problem that should not have happened. Ollie Robinson, who has not played in the series yet, revealed earlier on Monday that he received his visa only on the morning that England originally flew to Hyderabad from Abu Dhabi last month. Robinson had heard the night before that another paperwork error had caused a delay.
“There was an error at the ECB – I think they must have just put an initial wrong, or one letter wrong. It did not pass. He was like, ‘you are not coming to India – you have to stay here for another night… it could be two nights, could be three nights, do not know how long it is going to take.’ Luckily, I woke up in the morning to a nice message from Wayne saying ‘visa’s here.'” Robinson added on his podcast, Chatting Balls.
“It sounds fairly positive. I believe we are getting along with Rehan. He is happy to be training today. I believe it was resolved fairly quickly yesterday, but it is obviously happening behind the scenes and hopefully it will all be resolved in the next day or two. Rehan is happy to be training and the boys are getting along with him.”
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