Usman Khawaja Visa Issue: Australia Batter En Route To India For Test Series

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Bengaluru, February 2: Usman Khawaja visa issue seems to be sorted out as the Australia opener is en route to India for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 after missing the first and second batch of fliers.

The opener will now join his teammates in Bengaluru, where they will train before the first Test. Following the Cricket Australia awards in Sydney on Monday (January 30) night, the Australian team left in two groups throughout the course of Tuesday (January 31) and Wednesday (February 1).

The 36-year-old took to social media to state he is on his way to India for the four-match Test series, which is scheduled to start on February 9 in Nagpur.

"India, meh arah hoon (India, I'm coming). #incoming #khawajyenroute," Khawaja shared a selfie clicked on a flight on his Instagram account.

Earlier on Wednesay (February 1), Khawaja wrote on social media to inform about the delay in his Indian visa after a second batch of players and support staff departed from Sydney.

"Me waiting for my Indian Visa like... #stranded #dontleaveme #standard #anytimenow," the opener tweeted along with a viral meme from Netflix show 'Narcos'.

As per ESPNcricinfo, some visas were delivered late, but it was unknown whether any other travel arrangements had to be changed.

Khawaja, who was born in Pakistan, has travelled to India earlier as well, including the 2013 and 2017 Test tours, where he also faced the identical issue of obtaining a visa.

He was initially refused a visa in 2011 to represent New South Wales in the T20 Champions League, but after protests to the Indian High Commission, the issue was addressed.

Australia will train in Bengaluru for four days before moving to Nagpur for the first Test. Several players participated in a two-day training in Sydney last week, but Khawaja and other batsmen participating in Big Bash League (BBL) had skipped that camp.

In order to prepare for the series, Australia will be spending time on Bengaluru's centre wicket where they have been promised that the pitches would be an accurate reflection of what is expected for the upcoming Tests.

(With Agency inputs)