With just over a week left for the start of their T20I series against India, England have been dealt a huge blow as pacer Saqib Mahmood is yet to receive his visa for the tour. Mahmood, who is of Pakistani origin, is yet to make his T20I debut for England, but has played nine ODIs and two Tests for the Three Lions. The 27-year-old was scheduled to leave for UAE where he would join fellow pace bowlers Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse and Mark Wood at a camp supervised by the legendary James Anderson.

However, according to a report in the Daily Mail, the England Cricket Board (ECB) has cancelled his flight as he is yet to receive his visa. 

It is not clear whether Mahmood will travel to India for the series. ECB is yet to issue a clarification on the matter.

“Mahmood was scheduled to leave for the UAE last Thursday for a pace bowling camp alongside Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse and Mark Wood but the ECB were forced to cancel his flight with his passport still in the hands of the Indian Embassy,” the report claimed.

“Freezing conditions in the UK have left the 27-year-old unable to bowl outdoors while his England teammates are training in Abu Dhabi alongside fast-bowling mentor Jimmy Anderson.”

The first T20I will be played in Kolkata on Wednesday, January 22. The remaining T20Is will be played in Chennai, Rajkot, Pune and Mumbai respectively. The T20Is will be followed by three ODIs next month.

India’s T20I squad

Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel (vice-capt), Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakravarthy, Washington Sundar

England’s T20I squad

Jos Buttler (c), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood, Phil Salt, Mark Wood