Saqib Mahmood faces visa delay ahead of training camp as the ECB is confident of resolving issue ahead of India tour.
Saqib Mahmood has been forced to miss an England training camp in Abu Dhabi ahead of their white-ball series in India.
Due to a delay in obtaining his visa, Shoaib Bashir was unable to play in England’s first Test match in Hyderabad last year. In anticipation of a similar problem, Mahmood decided not to apply for a visa before Lancashire’s preseason tour last year after being substituted in an England Lions team to tour India six years ago due to delays in the visa application procedure.
Despite refusing to comment, the ECB is reportedly hopeful that Mahmood will obtain his visa in time to go with the team. It is believed that Adil Rashid and Rehan Ahmed, the other two players with Pakistani ancestry in England’s T20I team, have already obtained their visas.
Prior to the India tour, which is being supervised by James Anderson in his role as a fast-bowling consultant, Mahmood was scheduled to attend a pace-bowling camp in Abu Dhabi with Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, and Mark Wood. However, in order to obtain a visa, he had to give up his passport, which prevented him from travelling.
The 27-year-old Mahmood has made 29 appearances for England in a variety of formats, but his development stagnated following his 2022 Test debut because of a series of lower back stress fractures. Before being crowned player of the series during England’s Twenty20 Internationals in the Caribbean in November, he reminded England’s selectors of his abilities with a match-winning spell in the Hundred final in 2024.