Khawaja posted on his Instagram account early Wednesday afternoon to indicate he was yet to depart:“Me waiting for my Indian Visa like... #stranded #dontleaveme #standard #anytimenow”
Sources close to the Australian team toldThe Age andThe Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday that Khawaja’s passport and visa were handed back to a Cricket Australia representative late on Wednesday night.
Khawaja is booked to travel from Melbourne to Bengaluru on Thursday with a selection of other support staff,meaning he will join the team in time for training on Friday.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is aware that Usman Khawaja’s Indian visa application is still being processed by Indian authorities,” A DFAT spokesperson said. “The Australian Government is in contact with Cricket Australia and India’s Ministry of External Affairs.”
A spokeswoman for the Indian High Commission said it was investigating the matter but could not yet provide any details. Cricket Australia declined to comment.
It’s not the first time Khawaja has been delayed in his travel to India,having previously required special intervention to ensure he could play for New South Wales at the Twenty20 Champions League in 2011.
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On other trips,Khawaja’s visa has arrived later than for other teammates and staff,but invariably turned up in time for the flight.
Khawaja has previously made Test tours of India in 2013 and 2017,although he was not selected for a match in either case. This time around he is set to tour as Australia’s leading batter of the past 12 months,winning the Shane Warne trophy for Test player of the year on Monday night.
At the time,Khawaja spoke with great feeling about how much “love” he had felt from the Australian public after being recalled to the Test team in January last year - ensuring he would be retained by sculpting twin centuries against England at the SCG.
“The love I’ve gotten over the last year,I could never,ever have imagined getting that kind of love,” Khawaja said at the Australian cricket awards.
“I finally feel like not only my teammates,but Australia as a country and as a cricketing organisation is finally respecting me as the person,the beliefs I have.
“I love where we’ve been and where we’re going. I love where we’ve come over the last 10 to 15 years and hopefully over the next 10 to 15 years we can be even further.”
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