Before the third Test match against India, England spinner Rehan Ahmed halted at the Rajkot airport due to a visa difficulty
Rehan Ahmed’s departure from the airport upon England’s arrival for the third Test was delayed due to his absence of a multiple-entry India visa. However, Ollie Pope, the spinner’s colleague, expressed optimism that the matter would be rectified in advance of the match, which starts on Thursday.
After the second Test at Visakhapatnam, England had a 10-day holiday and flew to Abu Dhabi. However, on Monday, when the squad returned, Ahmed was prevented from leaving the Hirasar airport here since he was only allowed one admission.
Pope expressed optimism that the incident would conclude shortly when the 19-year-old was granted an interim two-day visa by the local immigration officials, which made his admission easier.
Pope said during a news conference held here on Tuesday, “Hopefully it (Ahmed’s visa issue) will be sorted in a day or so.”
at the first Test, which England won by 28 runs, Ahmed got two wickets. In the second Test, which India won by 106 runs to tie the five-match series at one, Ahmed took six wickets at Visakhapatnam.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said that they were investigating the irregularities that the Indian authorities discovered in Ahmed’s documentation.
The ECB was cited by ESPNcricinfo as saying, “We were advised, on returning to India, that there was paperwork discrepancy with Rehan Ahmed’s visa.”
Rehan was granted provisional visa entrance at Rajkot Airport thanks to the kind actions of the local authorities. In the next days, the right visa ought to be processed and granted. Before the third Test, he and the rest of the team will continue to rehearse,” the statement said.
