- By Himanshu Badola
- Wed, 14 Jan 2026 10:12 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
T20 World Cup 2026: The build-up for the T20 World Cup 2026 has witnessed an interesting turn as multiple US cricketers of Pakistani origin — Ali Khan, Shayan Jahangir, Mohammad Mohsin and Ehsan Adil — are awaiting visa clearance to travel to India for the marquee tournament, which is scheduled to start on February 7.
The players attended the scheduled appointments at the Indian High Commission in Colombo. As per a report in Cricbuzz, the quartet are currently in Sri Lanka with the USA squad as part of their final phase of preparation for the February tournament. They completed their visa appointments on Tuesday, January 13, but visas were not issued at the appointment stage.
The report added that there have been no formal visa rejections and the applications of the four players remain under review as part of "established operating procedures."
"They had the appointment this morning at the Indian Embassy in Sri Lanka. They completed the paperwork as per what ICC had asked them to prior to the appointments. At the appointment, the players were informed that the visas could not be processed at this stage. Later in the evening, USA management received a call from the Indian Embassy indicating that some of the required information had been received, while additional inputs were still awaited from the Foreign Ministry. Once that process is complete, they will be contacted to proceed further. That is the current status," the report said.
While the report claimed that the review process in special-category cases is underway and is being handled in accordance with Indian government protocols, Ali Khan’s social media post sparked speculation online.
Notably, the visa applications involving the players of Pakistani origin have witnessed a similar situation in the past, and the review process has to go through an additional administrative layer, irrespective of the team affiliation. International cricketers such as Moeen Ali, Shoaib Bashir and Usman Khawaja have previously gone through similar procedures.
The recent visa uncertainty issue has come up amid the ongoing friction between the Bangladesh Cricket Board and the ICC over shifting the matches of the T20 World Cup 2026. Bangladesh have made an official request to shift their T20 WC matches from India to Sri Lanka due to security concerns.
Talking about the USA, they had a memorable campaign in the T20 WC's last edition at home in 2024 as they defeated Pakistan. They are placed in the same group as India and Pakistan and will begin their campaign on February 7 against the defending champions in Mumbai.