Miandad granted visa, to watch final Indo-Pak ODI in Capital

Islamabad: Former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad has been granted an Indian visa that will allow him to attend the final one-dayer of the ongoing limited-over cricket series between the two countries in New Delhi on January 6.

Due to Miandad`s family ties with Dawood Ibrahim, India`s most wanted terrorist, there had been reports before a series in 2005 that any requests for a visa by the batting great could be turned down by the Indian government. Miandad`s son Junaid is married to Mahrukh, the daughter of Dawood, who is wanted in India in connection with the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case. Official sources said the Miandad has been granted visa to visit India for the third and final ODI in New Delhi. Meanwhile, the Home Ministry in India said that it has given guidelines to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad on visa issue. "Individual visas are not being given. The Home Ministry has given guidelines to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad to give visas to the team members, coaches, PCB officials and visitors who have tickets for the matches as well as return tickets," a government official said in Delhi. "But there is a rider also. As many people may want to travel by buses for which buying advanced rerun tickets are difficult, there is an exemption for bus travellers," he added. Miandad, who has scored 8832 runs in 124 Tests besides 7381 from 233 ODIs, currently holds the second most powerful position in the PCB -- that of director general -- and directly reports to the chairman, Zaka Ashraf. "My visa and tickets are ready and I shall be in Delhi for the third ODI match scheduled for Jan 6," Miandad said. "I faced absolutely no problem in getting the Indian visa and am quite excited about travelling to Delhi for the game," he added. Meanwhile, World Cup winning captain Imran Khan will not able be travel to India owing to his political commitments back home. PTI