Fearing visa delay, teams with players of Pakistani origin seek world cricket body help

Eight teams that have qualified for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup have approached the International Cricket Council (ICC) seeking help in acquiring visas to play matches in India for players in their squad holding Pakistani passports, a news report has claimed.

The UAE, Oman, Canada, Italy, the USA, and the Netherlands have picked players with Pakistani passports for the T20 World Cup to be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka, fearing delays in these players getting visas.

England have Rehan Ahmed in their side, while Nepal also have a player of Pakistani-origin in their squad.

Thus, the UAE, which has multiple players of Pakistani origin who will face trouble in getting an Indian visa, has taken the lead and written to the ICC to help them in the matter, Telecom Asia Sport (www.telecomasia.net) reported, quoting sources.

“The UAE, Oman, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United States have players who were born in Pakistan, and despite having the nationality of the country, they are facing problems in acquiring an Indian visa,” sources told the website.

As per Indian External Ministry rules, despite having another country’s nationality, if someone is born in Pakistan or their parents or grandparents were born in Pakistan, they have to apply for a visa on a Pakistani passport.

“The UAE and Oman players have applied for visas, but there are fears that they will not be issued the permission to play in India until and unless the ICC intervenes,” www.telecomasia.net quoted the sources as saying.

The UAE has Mohammad Waseem, Jawad Ullah, Mohammad Rohid, Khuzaima Tanveer, Haider Ali, Asif Khan, and Junaid Siddiqui, who were all born in Pakistan and will face visa issues as they are not UAE passport holders. The UAE does not give nationality to foreigners.

Oman also has several Pakistan-born or Pakistan-origin players with the likes of Fayyaz Butt, Hammad Mirza, Shah Faisal, Mohammad Nadeem, and Sufyan Mahmood, to name a few.

There is a history of players of Pakistani origin facing delays or rejection in getting an Indian visa. In 2024, England off-spinner Shoaib Basheer, born and brought up in the UK, got his visa delayed due to his father being born and brought up in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK). The same happened to another spinner, Rehan Ahmed, last year.

Agencies