Australia opening batter Usman Khawaja who claimed the inaugural Shane Warne Award as the men’s Test player of the year is still waiting for the Indian government to issue a visa for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar test series.
Pakistan-born Khawaja has taken it to social media to show his frustration with the process.
He posted this with a picture
“Me waiting for my Indian Visa like…🤣 #stranded #dontleaveme #standard #anytimenow“
The rest of the Australian team had no issues regarding their visas and The Australia Today understands most have reached India.
Just two days back he was named Test player of the year in honour of the legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne, who passed away last March.
Khawaja polled 22 votes to win ahead of Marnus Labuschagne (20) and Steve Smith (16).
“Khawaja was a heavy favourite for the award after a prolific 12 months that saw him score 1,020 runs in the voting period, at an average of 78.46. The Allan Border Medal’s overall winner is decided primarily by test votes, however, Khawaja hasn’t represented Australia in either limited-overs format in the previous 12 months,” Australia Cricket said in an official statement.
Social media had multiple reactions to this news.
The Australia Today understands that Cricket Australia has told Usman Khawaja that he should get his Indian visa within the next 24 hours.
“We expected him to fly for India tomorrow sometime,”
Said a highly placed source in Cricket Australia.
Seema Chauhan is a Gold Coast-based registered migration agent.
Ms Chauhan told The Australia Today, “One can never know about the reasons why certain visa applications take more time than others.”
“India is sensitive towards applications from people of Pakistan origin,”
added Ms Chauhan
However, She does think it could be a genuine delay in Usman Khawaja’s visa case.
The Australia Today has contacted the Indian High Commission for comment, the article will be updated as we receive it.
