We were very confident that we would get the visa for Rehan before the game started: Ben Stokes

RAJKOT: England captain Ben Stokes on Wednesday expressed relief after young leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed's visa issue was sorted in quick time.

Ahmed, a spinner of Pakistani descent, arrived in Rajkot with a single-entry visa, but he was able to complete his paperwork a day before the third Test against India.

Stokes hailed the Indian government and the BCCI for sorting out the issue “quickly”.

"For any individual having to wait for that is always an anxious period, but thankfully, we got it through this morning, and great job from the guys at the airport for giving him his visa to get through initially, and everyone at the BCCI and the government to get the visa quickly,'' he said ahead of the third Test.

"We do not have to worry anymore about those issues, we were very confident that we would get the visa for Rehan before the game started," he added.

Earlier, before the start of the India-England Test series, off-spinner Shoaib Bashir faced visa issues and arrived in Hyderabad on the third day of the first Test.