Kevin Pietersen gets visa clearance for his India visit
Earlier on Monday, Kevin Pietersen wrote on his twitter page to reveal that his passport is lying with the Indian embassy in the UK for the past 10 days for a job that he claimed requires barely 24 hours, and subsequently requested the Ministry of External Affairs to help him in this regard.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed that the necessary clearance regarding star England batsman Kevin Pietersen's visa was received from the sports ministry paving his way for upcoming India visit.
MEA's official spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin on Monday tweeted that the Indian Embassy in the United Kingdom will soon grant visa to Pietersen as they have received necessary clearance from the union sports ministry.
"Good news. Twiplomacy works!! Necessary clearance just received from Sports Ministry. Mission to grant visa soon. C u in India soon," MEA official Akbaruddin tweeted which was re-tweeted by KP.
Earlier in the day, Pietersen wrote on his twitter page to reveal that his passport is lying with the Indian embassy in the UK for the past 10 days for a job that he claimed requires barely 24 hours, and subsequently requested the MEA to help him in this regard.
"Trying to travel to India urgently & the Indian Embassy has had my passport for 10days for a 24hr service. Help @MEAIndia, @IndianDiplomacy?," Pietersen tweeted.
In reply, MEA's official spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin replied to the England batsman's query explaining him about the requirement of necessary approval from the Union Sports Ministry.
"Event requires approval of Sports Ministry. Mission will give Visa promptly once organisers of event obtain necessary approval," Akbaruddin replied to Pietersen via twitter.
Pietersen, who has been retained by Delhi Daredevils, will be available for the entire season of the seventh edition of the cash-rich Indian Premier League.
. @KP24 Good news. Twiplomacy works!! Necessary clearance just received from Sports Ministry. Mission to grant visa soon. C u in India soon
- Syed Akbaruddin (@MEAIndia) March 10, 2014
This was made possible after the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had formally announced that Pietersen will no longer be selected to play for England.
The 33-year-old has scored 8181 runs in 104 Tests with 23 hundreds and 4440 runs in 136 ODIs with nine tons to his credit.
Pietersen is likely to come to India by the end of this month as the Daredevils will be officially unveiling their new jersey for the 2014 season. Coach Gary Kirsten is also expected to attend the promotional event.
Daredevils had a horrible last season and KP was unavailable due to a knee surgery.