Pakistan-heritage Saqib Mahmood granted visa for India tour after prolonged delay

Saqib Mahmood (Pic: AFP)

England fast-bowler Saqib Mahmood has finally received his visa for the team's upcoming white-ball tour of India, starting with the T20I series opener in Kolkata on January 22.

Mahmood, who is of Pakistani heritage, had faced a delay in procuring the travel document, forcing him to miss an England training camp in the UAE.

The 27-year-old Lancashire seamer will join the touring English party in the UAE, where the team held a pace-bowling camp for the likes of Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, and Mark Wood alongside fast-bowling mentor James Anderson, on their way to India.

Two other members of the T20I squad of similar background -- Adil Rashid and Rehan Ahmed -- had however received their visas earlier.

Mahmood had encountered similar issues in the past and, in 2019, he had to be replaced in an England Lions squad for the India tour due to a delay in obtaining his visa. A similar reason had prevented Mahmood from travelling to India for a Lancashire pre-season camp last year.

Also last year, off-spinner Shoaib Bashir was forced to fly back to London on the eve of England's five-match Test series against India as he had to obtain his visa, which kept him out of the first game in Hyderabad.

Having overcome consecutive lower-back stress fractures, Mahmood returned to the international fold last year, and was named player of the series during England's T20I assignment in the Caribbean in November, taking nine wickets at 10.55.

He has played nine one-day internationals and 18 T20Is for England since making his deut in February 2020, and picked 38 wickets across formats.

England will play five T20Is and three ODIs in India.

(With agency inputs)