Indian pace bowler Mohammed Shami needed a recommendation from BCCI to travel to the United States of America. The Bengal speedster, initially had his US visa application rejected due to the charges of domestic violence on him.
BCCI had to intervene to help Shami get his visa, according to sources from PTI.
The Bengal speedster got the visa clearance after BCCI CEO Rahul Johri wrote a letter to the US Embassy, stating his achievements for the country and furnishing the full police report about his marital discord with his wife Hasin Jahan.
It is learnt that the Indian players got their visas under P1 category (granted to members of an internationally recognised foreign team of athletes).
?Yes, Shami?s visa application was initially rejected by the US embassy. It was found that his police verification record was incomplete. However now it has been sorted and all the required documents have been furnished,? a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
?Once the visa application got rejected, CEO Rahul Johri wrote a letter of request, citing Shami?s achievements including participation in multiple World Cups. Also the documents were furnished,? the source was further quoted saying.
Mohammed Shami, historically hasn’t had a clean record with women. Apart from his wife accusing Shami of having extra marital affairs, earlier this year, during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, a lady on social media posted a screenshot of Shami messaging her without any context. ?Anyone wanna tell me why some random cricket player with 1.4m followers keeps messaging me,? the lady tweeted.
Shami, though has been hugely influential for India on the cricketing front since his debut in 2013. He has played two World Cups for India picking up a total of 31 wickets. He was the second highest wicket taker in the 2015 World Cup while in the World Cup this year, he picked up 14 wickets in just four matches.