Rubel cleared to fly to South Africa

Bangladesh pacer Rubel Hossain has finally been cleared to board a flight to South Africa. The right-arm speedster is scheduled to fly from Dhaka early Friday morning after having waited for around five days. A BCB source has confirmed the development. Rubel, who was scheduled to fly to South Africa with the team on Saturday, was not issued a boarding pass by the airlines at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka. The Khulna lad has been the victim of mistaken identity by the South Africa immigration authority who had security observation on another person named Rubel Hossain.

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Since then, the BCB has made desperate efforts to get the issue sorted out with support from Cricket South Africa. “Rubel’s case is of mistaken identity. According to South Africa immigration, there is one Rubel Hossain who is banned from entering South Africa. But we have already communicated and emailed necessary papers to CSA. They (CSA) are in communication with their ministry trying to solve the issue,” informed BCB president Nazmul Hasan to the media Thursday. The BCB meanwhile, had thought of possible replacements for Rubel. Pacers Kamrul Islam Rabbi and Mohammad Saifuddin were the two names proposed as replacements in case Rubel failed to reach South Africa before the first Test match, set to start on Thursday in Potchefstroom. Rubel has already missed the lone three-day game against CSA Invitation XI, which started in Benoni Thursday.