Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023: Usman Khawaja's Visa cleared, will travel to India on February 2

Usman Khawaja's Visa issue is sorted and the player is set to travel to India on February 2 for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023. The veteran Australian opener missed the initial two flights to India due to a delayed Visa on Wednesday. Cricket Australia (CA) was quick to file a petition to the local Indian High Commission to reverse a decision denying the player to travel to India on his Australian passport.

Cricbuzz reported that the Visa application of Khawaja was moved to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi. MEA needed more time to issue clearance for Khawaja's Visa and two hours before the Indian High Commission in Canberra got a message from MEA. So the Visa application was immediately relayed to the Indian Consulate in Melbourne who quickly issued the Visa.

It is understood that some applications need a clearance issue from MEA in New Delhi, but it's not the case for every application. The same report also said that the Visa application for other cricketers, who are regular visitors to India for Indian Premier League and for bilateral series, were not referred to the MEA.

During Khawaja's Visa clearance process, Shri Manpreet Vohra, the Indian High Commissioner to Australia, informed the CA authorities about the developments regarding the delayed Visa for Khawaja. 

Khawaja will travel directly to Bengaluru

CA was quick to arrange a flight for their star opener scheduled on February 2. Khawaja will directly fly to Bengaluru with the remaining members of the team's coaching staff. The Australian team has already departed for India in two groups. They have a scheduled training camp in Bengaluru for a few days before they travel to Nagpur for the opening Test on February 9.

The 36-year-old Pakistan-born cricketer moved to Australia at the age of three and has faced the same problem before. He spilled out his frustration on Wednesday through a social media post as well. He won the Australia Test Player of the Year award on Monday and has been in sensational form in red-ball cricket.