Scotland bank on ICC assurances over Sharif visa after naming T20 World Cup squad

Cricket Scotland has received assurances that the ICC is working "very, very hard" to ensure Scotland's players will be granted Indian visas in time for their opening Safyaan Sharif, who has Pakistani heritage.

Scotland were the beneficiaries of Bangladesh's last-minute withdrawal from the World Cup as the highest-ranked team who had not already qualified, and named a 15-man squad on Monday afternoon which is due to fly to India later this week.

The state of political and diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan has resulted in regular delays for Pakistani nationals or those with Pakistani heritage when applying for Indian visas in recent years, including several cricketers.

But Cricket Scotland is confident that Sharif - who was born in Huddersfield to a Pakistani father and a British-Pakistani mother before moving to Scotland aged seven - will be granted a visa in time for the team's opening match against West Indies in Kolkata.

"We are all committed [to] working with the ICC to make that happen," Trudy Lindblade, Cricket Scotland's chief executive, said on Monday. "The visa piece is always slightly an unknown, and it doesn't matter whether you've got three days or whether you've got 45 days.

"Certainly that's been our focus in the last 48 hours: just getting those visas done so our players are all ready to go. They're all in the middle of submitting their visas and we will be there on the ground in India as quickly as we can, so it's just a matter of time now.

"[The ICC] can only give us the assurances of the bits that they can control and, absolutely, of the bits that they control, we are working with them and obviously they're working with the BCCI and local people on the ground there to make sure that we are getting all of that support that we need.

"So, absolutely, [they have given] the assurance that they can provide of things that were in their control. There is a team working very, very hard to not just help us, but to help 19 other teams as well that are also going to a World Cup. But we are their intense focus right now."

Scotland will also apply for visas for two travelling reserves and three non-travelling reserves so that they will be able to field a team even in the event of delays and their head of performance, Steve Snell, said that the ICC had been "fantastic" in supporting their hurried preparations.

"We [also] anticipate some support whenever we can [get it] from the BCCI," Snell said. "I don't think we need to escalate that any further to get into the country, because you'd suggest that Scotland being invited to attend the World Cup and then not being able to get there wouldn't be a great look for anybody."

There are three changes to Scotland's squad since the 2024 T20 World Cup, when they narrowly missed out on qualification for the Super 8s, with 19-year-old Afghanistan-born fast bowler Zainullah Ihsan in line for an international debut after winning his maiden call-up.

Tom Bruce, who played 17 T20Is for New Zealand as a middle-order batter from 2017 to 2020, is another significant inclusion, having switched allegiance to Scotland last year and made his ODI debut for them in August.

Chris Sole, the express fast bowler, is a notable absentee. Sole, who has regularly registered speeds in excess of 90mph/145kph, has played franchise cricket in the ILT20 and the CPL and featured for Scotland at their last World Cup appearance, but has not played a professional match since late 2024 as he focuses on a non-playing career in recruitment.

Ihsan, Bruce and batter Finlay McCreath are the three players involved who did not feature in the 2024 T20 World Cup squad, replacing Sole, Oli Haris and Jack Jarvis (who is one of the travelling reserves).

Hampshire seamer Scott Currie, who played three ODIs in early 2024, was not considered as he is no longer eligible for selection.

Currie, whose older brother Brad is part of the squad, was picked by England for their T20I series against Ireland in September and while he did not win a cap, the fact that he was named as an official substitute on their teamsheet renders him unavailable for Scotland until September 2028 under ICC regulations.

Scotland are due to play warm-up matches against Afghanistan and Namibia in Bengaluru on February 2 and 4 before their opening fixture against West Indies in Kolkata. Their other first-round matches are against Italy, England and Nepal, with the top two teams in Group B then qualifying for the Super 8s stage.

"The squad selection is subject to all player and staff visa applications being approved," Cricket Scotland said in a statement. "Given the limited notice for Scotland's participation at the tournament and timescale for selecting players, two travelling reserves have been selected while three others will be non-travelling reserves."

Scotland squad for T20 World Cup: Richie Berrington (capt), Tom Bruce, Matthew Cross, Brad Currie, Oli Davidson, Chris Greaves, Zainullah Ihsan, Michael Jones, Michael Leask, Finlay McCreath, Brandon McMullen, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Mark Watt, Brad Wheal
Travelling reserves: Jasper Davidson, Jack Jarvis
Non-travelling reserves: Mackenzie Jones, Chris McBride, Charlie Tear