Khawaja complains of holdup with Indian visa

Cricket Australia has played down concerns Usman Khawaja will miss next months Champions League Twenty20 tournament after the Pakistan-born Australian batsman complained he was being refused a visa to India.Khawaja, the first Muslim to play cricket for Australia, said Tuesday on Twitter that Indias visa department was refusing him a visa as an Australian.Indian visa department need to sort their issues out. Refusing to let me travel to India as an Australian, because I wasnt born here. Wow, he wrote.In a Twitter exchange with New South Wales teammate Moises Henriques, Khawaja said the problem wasnt that I wasnt born here, but where I was (born). The tweets have since been removed.Peter Young, Cricket Australia general manager for public affairs, confirmed the holdup concerning Khawajas visa, but told the Associated Press the problem was a bureaucratic one and nothing to do with his country of birth or religion.Young said the delay relates to Cricket NSWs planning for the Champions League T20 tournament in India and how they made their preliminary applications.He said he had no doubt Khawaja would be granted his Indian visa in time for the Sept. 19-Oct. 9 tournament.We do have a very good relationship with the Indian High Commission because of the amount of cricket travel to and from India, Young said. We generally find that these things get sorted out.Young said he did not know the circumstances behind Khawaja removing his tweets.We encourage the players to operate social media accounts because its a great way to engage the public, he said. But they all do it on the basis that its their individual account and they manage it accordingly.Khawaja was included in the Australian squad for this months test series in Sri Lanka. The left-hander made his test debut January in the fifth match of the Ashes series in Sydney, where he scored 58 runs.