Mushtaq not to tour India with England Test team

London, Nov 17 (UNI) Former Pakistan spinner Mushtaq Ahmed will not be visiting India along with England's test team for two-match series as his travel documents were not found in order.

England Cricket Board (ECB) who had appointed Mushtaq as the team's spin bowling coach, could not get his travel documents cleared which means he will not be travelling to India to assist Monty Panesar and team spinners.

England faces India in two Tests after the completion of the ODI series and Mushtaq's mandate was to help Panesar and others to hone their skills on the spin-friendly pitches.

However, according to 'The Guardian' the England and Wales Cricket Board's failure to secure a work permit for the former Pakistan leg-spinner forced the board to withdraw him from the tour party, Panesar will now have to depend on the advice of Indian spin-bowling coaches, who are yet to be named.

England players picked up for the Test series will leave for a training camp in India this weekend.

According to the paper, the Home Office though did not give any reason for the delay in clearing Mushtaq's papers but some feel that it has some thing to do with the criticism of Pakistani bowler's appointment by the International Cricket Council (ICC) CEO Haroon Lorgat owing to the spinner's alleged role in the 2000 match-fixing scandal.

UNI XC HSB CS KN1840