World Twenty20: Oman's nine Pakistani-origin players stranded for a day after arrival in India

New Delhi: Members of Oman's cricket team faced some problems on their arrival in India ahead of the ICC World T20 due to a visa mix-up.

According to a report in the Hindustan Times, their team's nine players of Pakistan origin were briefly not able to stay with other members in Chandigarh.

The Associate team arrived in India on February 23 for the coveted tournament that is scheduled to take place from March 8 to April 3.

The Oman team was booked to stay in a Chandigarh hotel. The Union Territory of Chandigarh serves as capital to Punjab and Haryana.

But the players' visa was stamped for Mohali in Punjab, which made the players of Pakistani origin ineligible to stay in Chandigarh.

Finally, Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) had to step in by putting up the players in their club house at the stadium.

“The issue cropped up as these players had visa only for Mohali. Although the cities are adjoining, technically the players could not have stayed in Chandigarh. As it was already evening on February 23 when they arrived, we brought them to the PCA stadium,” PCA secretary, GS Walia, told HT.

“But the issue was resolved the next day (Feb 24) and by evening the correct papers came. Thereafter, the entire team was shifted back to the hotel in Chandigarh,” he added.

Oman will play two warm-up matches in Mohani on March 4 and 6. The team will then travel to Dharamsala for the World T20 qualifiers.