Star batter Usman Khawaja has been cleared to join his Australia teammates in India ahead of the blockbuster Test series after his visa issues were resolved. Pakistan-born Khawaja has flown out of Melbourne, more than a day later than planned, after an anxious wait for his visa to be approved.
The 36-year-old opener took to social media on Thursday, posting a photo of him on a plane accompanied by the hashtags “incoming” and “khawajaenroute”. Approval for arrival into India can often be complex and time-consuming, but every other member of Australia’s 18-man squad was granted entry in time to take flights on Tuesday and Wednesday to their training camp in Bangalore.
The visa process for entry to India asks applicants whether they or their parents are of Pakistani origin. It is not the first time Khawaja, who was born in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, has faced visa challenges when trying to enter India. In 2011, the batter took to social media to vent his frustration after not been permitted to enter the country because he was not born in Australia.
The classy left-hander was not due to train with teammates in Bangalore on Thursday, regardless of his arrival status, and the team’s hierarchy is not concerned the delay will affect his preparation.
Khawaja, set to play his first Test match in India this month, has been cleared to enter the country on numerous occasions before. He toured with the Test team in 2013, when he was part of the infamous homework-gate scandal with teammates James Pattinson, Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson.
Khawaja also represented Rising Pune Supergiant in the IPL in 2016, played for Australia A on an Indian tour in 2018, and toured again with the national ODI team in 2019 when he scored two centuries.
The revival of Khawaja’s international career was one of the cricket stories of 2022, with the player starring after his recall into the Test team following more than two years in the wilderness.
He put in career-best performances to claim Australia’s Shane Warne Award as the men’s Test player of the year, and was named as an opener in the ICC’s best XI. Khawaja starred with 496 runs at an average of 165.33 during Australia’s gritty 1-0 Test series win in Pakistan in 2022, the team’s first tour of the country in 24 years.
The highly anticipated four-Test series against India begins in Nagpur on 9 February.