Usman Khawaja Misses Flight To India Due To Visa Issues

Australia’s star opener Usman Khawaja missed his flight to India on Tuesday due to a visa delay, Cricket Australia confirmed on Wednesday, February 1.

Australia players left in two batches on Tuesday and Wednesday for India for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, starting February 9 in Nagpur.

A Cricket Australia (CA) spokesman also confirmed that Khawaja was the only player in Australia’s squad to miss the flight since his visa had not arrived on time.

The Australian cricket board expects the visa to arrive later on Wednesday and said Khawaja will depart for India on Thursday, February 2 to join his fellow mates.

Taking to Twitter Khawaja expressed his disappointment and wrote, “Me waiting for my Indian Visa like… #stranded #dontleaveme #standard #anytimenow.”

Why Usman Khawaja’s India Visa Got Delayed?

As per a report of Cricbuzz, the delay in Khawaja’s visa was caused because a physical copy of the same was not available by the time a second batch of squad members left Australia on Tuesday.

Khawaja has visited India on several occasions before including Australia’s Test tours in 2013 and 2017. He was also part of Pune Super Giants in the Indian Premier League back in 2016.

The recent Cricket Australia awards saw Usman Khawaja receive the Shane Warne Men’s Test Player of the Year award, as he amassed 1275 runs with an average of 79.68, including five centuries, in 2022.

Australia players will assemble in Bengaluru for the four-day training camp before heading to Nagpur. The second and third Test matches will be played in Delhi and Dharamshala before the action moves to Ahmedabad for the final match.