Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are sweating over the delay in the arrival of their England all-rounder Moeen Ali as his papers for traveling to India have been delayed. Ali, who was retained ahead of the IPL 2022 auction by CSK, is yet to land in India and join the franchise for the tournament which begins on March 26.

The 34-year-old Ali has been awaiting clearance of his travel documents by the Indian High Commission in the UK.

“He had applied for his visa on February 28. It has been more than 20 days since the application was submitted. He has been a frequent traveler to India and yet he has not got the travel papers. We are hoping he will join the team soon. He has told us that he will take the very next flight after getting the papers. Even the BCCI has got itself involved to help us. We are hoping that he will get the papers by Monday,” Kasi Viswanathan, the CSK CEO told Cricbuzz on Saturday.

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CSK has been having their camp in Surat for the last one month. They play their first match on the opening day of IPL 2022, on March 26, against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Apart from Ali, one of the Gujarat Titans staff members is also stuck in London. GT recruited Abdul Naim of the UK and Mithun Manhas of Delhi, as assistant coaches. While Manhas has joined the squad in Ahmedabad, Naim, who had previously worked for Sunrisers Hyderabad, has been waiting for his travel clearance in the UK.

(IANS inputs)