Melbourne: Pakistan-born Australian batter Usman Khawaja was on Wednesday belatedly issued his Indian visa and will join his teammates who are already departing for next week’s four-Test tour, an Indian diplomat said. Khawaja who moved to Australia aged four has toured India before, but also faced delays on that occasion with his visa taking longer than Australia-born teammates.

“Waiting for my Indian Visa,” Khawaja said on Instagram, above an image from Netflix series “Narcos” where forlorn Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar played by actor Wagner Moura sits alone on a swinging seat. India’s high commissioner to Australia tweeted in response later that Khawaja’s visa had been “issued and collected from our Consulate General in Melbourne”. “Let’s have a great #BorderGavaskarTrophy series!” Manpreet Vohra tweeted. He did not elaborate on the reasons for the visa delay. Australian media reported that touring players and support staff began receiving visas in early January, and some have already begun arriving in Bengaluru, where the team will set up pre-match camp.

Published in The Daily National Courier, February, 02 2023

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