Rubel still in limbo

Rubel Hossain's visit to South Africa is still under clouds after the Emirates flight which carried the Tigers to Johannesburg on September 16 refused to issue a boarding pass to the Bangladesh fast bowler, who did not have immigration clearance.

The cricketer had not received clearance from the South African immigration department till Tuesday and it is still uncertain whether Rubel will be able to catch a flight in time for the Tigers' three-day practice match, which is slated to begin on September 21 before the first of the two-match Test series starts on September 28.

According to BCB Cricket operations committee chairman Akram Khan, there was a problem with Rubel's date of birth and he informed that it would take a further one or two days to obtain clearance.

"There were some errors during Rubel's visa process which were actually made by the South African visa authorities. There are some issues with his date of birth which caused the problem. It will take another one or two days to resolve the situation and hopefully he will be able to reach South Africa before the Test series," Akram told media yesterday.

It was earlier learned that a person named Rubel Hossain was on the South African visa authorities' blacklist, which caused the confusion.

BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury informed that the board was in constant touch with the airlines and the South African visa authorities and the cricketer would take the earliest flight once he received clearance.