ICC World Cup 2011: Canada’s preparations hit by Indian visa issues
Canada’s preparations for February’s ICC World Cup 2011 have been held back by a delay in issuance of Indian visas for four key players who are part of their World Cup squad.
Four players facing visa issues include 27-year-old all-rounder http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Khurram-Chohan-c1791 and reserve wicketkeeper Hamza Tariq. All of the four players are Pakistan-born Canadian citizens.
The quartet, owing to the visa issues, was ruled out of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 in November 2010. According to Cricket Canada president Ranjit Saini, the visa problems have dented team preparations.
Saini told the media that the Board had applied for the visas of players well before their tour of India in November 2010 but has been waiting for them to be processed since then.
“We couldn't take these players to India and as a result our training plans have suffered,” said Saini. “It's a source of distraction and is hurting team morale in general. We are making efforts but so far there is no outcome. They
are the star players of our team,” he added further.
The team is currently in the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hampshire-c789, England’s domestic Twenty20 champions, in a last ball thriller.
After completing the Caribbean Twenty20 task, the team will move to Dubai to participate in the training camp organised by the International Cricket Council for the associate teams participating in the 10th ICC World Cup
to be played in the subcontinent. Saini was hopeful that the visa issues would be sorted by then.
“The problem is that if this is not resolved in next week or so, the team will be on the move and players can't come back to Canada for visa processing. The short window of opportunity is now causing the issue to become a major problem,”
he said.
The Cricket Canada president, however, confirmed that a full-strength squad of Canada will head off to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747, one of the three hosts of ICC World Cup 2011, next month to play official World Cup warm-up matches ahead of the tournament.
Canada has been placed in Group A of the World Cup which also includes reigning champions http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kenya-c752.
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