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England faced more visa troubles when they returned to India following a mid-series break in the United Arab Emirates as Rehan Ahmed was stopped at Hirasar airport in Rajkot.
According the Sportstar the legspinner did not have the correct paperwork to enter India and was held at the airport until a solution was confirmed.
Rehan was initially issued a single-entry visa which he used to arrive in India ahead of the first two tests but England’s sojurn to Abu Dhabi meant that his paperwork was out of date on his return to the country. He was stopped from leaving the airport in Rajkot but the delay was short-lived as an emergency visa was quickly provided.
Local authorities sorted a short-term visa for Rehan and England are confident that the issue will be fully resolved in the next 24 hours and the correct paperwork will be obtained.
The issue comes just weeks after Shoaib Bashir’s arrival in India was also delayed due to the late issuing of his visa, which resulted in him missing the first Test in Hyderabad. Bashir, who has Pakistani heritage, had to return to the UK to get his visa stamped in person and arrived in India on January 28th.
Like Bashir, Rehan is of Pakistani heritage, but had no initial trouble entering the country because of a visa he had secured in October as part of England’s 50-over World Cup squad.
“The England team has been advised to process the visa again which will be happening in the next two days,” a BCCI official was quoted as saying in the Hindustan Times. “The player was allowed to enter the country with the rest of the team and he will be appearing in practice on Tuesday.”
Rehan has played in both test matches in the series so far, taking eight wickets at 36.37 and scoring 70 runs at 17.80 and with Jack Leach missing for the remainder of the series the 19-year-old is set to play a big role in the next three games.
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