Surrey confirms immigration issue in Tanvir deal

It has emerged that Pakistan fast bowler Sohail Tanvir's deal with Surrey fell through after he was turned away by immigration officers at London's Heathrow airport for having the wrong visa papers.

Surrey's media manager Nathan Ross confirmed that Tanvir will not be playing for the county this season and they are looking elsewhere for an overseas signing.

"We specified to our agency the type of player we were looking for once we had been made aware that Andre Nel would not play again this season due to injury, and the agency came back with a recommendation for Tanvir," Ross told Pakpassion.net.

"We instructed the agency to carry out all the usual tasks required when making an overseas signing and we were confident that Tanvir would be playing for us shortly after his arrival in the UK. He actually arrived at Heathrow Airport on July 31 and was refused entry and turned back by immigration officials at the airport.

"The immigration documentation required to play as a county player is entirely different to that which is required to play as an international player and perhaps Sohail and his advisors overlooked this fact."

Tanvir, 24, who was dropped for the ongoing series in Sri Lanka after a poor World Twenty20, had said he was spending his time out of the side "overcoming his problems" and was set for a stint with the county.

He has been included in Pakistan's Champions Trophy probables squad of 29 but will face tough competition in the fast bowling department from youngsters like Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Talha and Wahab Riaz to make the cut. Naved-ul-Hasan and Rao Iftikhar Anjum also figure in the pecking order.

The Champions Trophy will be played in South Africa from September 22 to October 5.