Rubel Hossain cleared to travel to South Africa being mistaken for barred namesake

Rubel Hossain finally got the permission from the South African authorities to join rest of his teammates. (Source: File)

Bangladesh pacer Rubel Hossain finally got permission from South African authorities to join the rest of his teammates in Johannesburg. Rubel was initially unable to get security clearance and was not allowed to go with the Bangladesh team on Saturday as the airlines did not issue his boarding pass.

Bangladesh Cricket Board’s media committee chairman Jalal Yunus provided the information, saying, “The security clearance of Rubel has arrived and he will be taking the evening flight.”

During a press conference, early in the afternoon on Thursday, BCB president Nazmul Hassan made it clear that Rubel was mistaken with another person who had the same name and date of birth and was not allowed to enter South Africa. As a result, Rubel was stopped from boarding the flight to Johannesburg.

Following the incident, a meeting was organised at the earnest by the Hassan, at the board headquarters on Thursday. “We have continuously been in contact with Cricket South Africa, who are also in touch with their home ministry. We have received the photo and name of another “Rubel Hossain”, whose date of birth also matches with the player. But this person is barred from entering South Africa, so we have confirmed to them that it is not the cricketer Rubel Hossain. I think they got confused, but the photos don’t match,” Hassan concluded.

Bangladesh tour South Africa for a two match Test series that will be followed by a three-match ODI series and two T20Is. Bangladesh have recently experienced an upswing of form in the longest format of the game. They beat England and Australia at home and have also recorded a victory against Sri Lanka at Galle.