Usman Khawaja, an Australian batter of Pakistani descent, received his Indian visa on Wednesday after a long wait and will now go to India with his squad to begin their four-Test tour the next week, according to an Indian diplomat.
Khawaja, who was born in India but migrated to Australia when he was four years old, had previously toured India but experienced delays due to his visa application taking longer than teammates who were also born in Australia. Khawaja posted a picture of the despondent Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, depicted by actor Wagner Moura, sitting by himself on a swinging seat with the caption, “Waiting for my Indian Visa,” on Instagram.
Later, in response, the high commissioner for India to Australia tweeted that Khawaja’s visa had been “issued and collected from our Consulate General in Melbourne.” “Let’s have a fantastic #BorderGavaskarTrophy series!” Manpreet Vohra wrote on Twitter. He made no more mention of the factors for the visa delay.
Visa issues leave Usman Khawaja 'stranded' in Australia ahead of India tour https://t.co/GalZ0YK4wg
— ABC News (@abcnews) February 1, 2023
According to Australian media, visas for traveling players and support personnel started to be issued in early January, and some have already started arriving in Bengaluru, where the team will set up a pre-match camp. Since their division in 1947, relations between Pakistan and India have been tense, and these tensions frequently manifest themselves in sporting events. Ten years have passed since the two nations’ last bilateral series, and Pakistani cricketers are no longer allowed to compete in the prestigious T20 Indian Premier League. Australia is attempting to win its first Test series against India in almost ten years. The largest cricket stadium in the world is in Ahmedabad, and tests will also be played at Nagpur, Delhi, and Dharamsala.
Khawaja made an incredible comeback against England in the 2021–2022 Ashes after being out of the Test team for approximately two years. In a recent game in Sydney against South Africa, where he was 195 not out, he recorded his 4,000th Test run. Khawaja received the first-ever Shane Warne Men’s Test Player of the Year award for his 1,020 runs at an average of 78.46.
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