IND vs AUS: Usman Khawaja, the Aussie opener missed the Australia team’s flight to India on Wednesday owing to a visa holdup by India. The batsman, who was born in Pakistan, was the only member of Australia’s team who did not board because his visa did not arrive in time, according to a CA spokeswoman. Surprisingly, it is not the first time that Khawaja has suffered a visa delay for India. But this time the holdup is the result of many reasons combined. CHECK How. Follow India vs Australia LIVE updates with InsideSport.IN
IND vs AUS: Brother’s Fake ‘Terror Plot’ among reasons why Usman Khawaja India VISA got delayed, All you need to KNOW about that saga, Follow India vs Australia LIVE
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Khawaja is currently the most in-form batter in the Australian squad despite never having played a Test match in India. He was named the male Test Player of the Year at the recent CA Award ceremony. In Test cricket in 2022, he amassed a stunning 1080 runs at a stellar average of 67.50.
For the Champion’s League Twenty20 tournament in August 2011, the Indian government denied him a visa. It then lead to rumours that this was because Khawaja was born in Pakistan, India’s main adversary, before moving to Australia as a young child.
Khawaja at the time was not persuaded despite the Indian government’s claims that the refusal was the result of a bureaucratic blunder.
Later, the Indian High Commission granted the plea by Cricket Australia and Cricket NSW to overturn the 2011 ruling.
Usman Khawaja’s brother jailed over fake terror plot
But in the 2023 visa delay saga, the Usman Pakistan-born factor doubled up as his brother was arrested for plotting a fake terror plan.
Notably, in 2020, Usman Khawaja’s elder brother was condemned to prison for his role in framing a colleague with a fictitious terror plan.
Arsalan Tariq Khawaja acknowledged falsifying entries in Kamer Nizamdeen’s notebook at the University of New South Wales in August 2018 after becoming envious of Nizamdeen’s interactions with a female acquaintance they both knew. Before authorities realised he had been set up, Nizamdeen had been detained, imprisoned in a maximum-security facility for four weeks, and falsely identified in the media as a terrorist.
In addition, Arsalan Tariq acknowledged calling the authorities in 2017 to complain about a jealous love rival and to make allegations about the man who got training overseas in terrorism.
“Up until this period of his life, he had been an ideal citizen . . . a model citizen, up until recently,” Usman Khawaja said at that time.
