Mahmood, of Pakistani descent, suffered a delay in obtaining a travel document, forcing him to miss an England training camp in the United Arab Emirates. Two other members of the T20I team with similar backgrounds, Adil Rashid and Rehan Ahmed, had received their visas earlier.
The Lancashire seamer had encountered similar problems in the past when, in 2019, he was replaced for an England Lions tour of India following a lengthy visa process. In 2024, he missed Lancashire’s pre-season tour having anticipated the same problem, months after England player Shoaib Bashir missed the first Test against India in Hyderabad due to slow visa processing.
Mahmood was supposed to attend a bowling camp in Abu Dhabi ahead of the tour of India, led by fast bowling consultant James Anderson, which featured the likes of Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse and Mark Wood. Those plans were thwarted by the fact that the Indian Embassy still had his passport, as Mahmood had originally intended to travel to the United Arab Emirates with the group last Thursday.
The 27-year-old has been on a comeback of sorts, overcoming consecutive stress fractures in his lower back to return to the international fold last year, and was named player of the series during England’s T20I series in the Caribbean in November, taking nine wickets at 10.55. With 29 appearances across all formats, including two Test internationals against the West Indies in 2022, Mahmood will be eager to impress head coach Brendon McCullum, who is now in charge of England’s red and white ball teams.