Out of favour, India's Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara will not be available to play the opening game of his stint as the overseas player of Sussex in the upcoming County Championship season.
Pujara's absence has been caused indirectly by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Therefore, Pujara's visa is yet to be cleared. The Indian top-order batter was expected to arrive on time to make his debut against Nottinghamshire on Thursday. However, the Saurashtra cricketer will not be available until Sussex's fixture against Derbyshire in the following week.
"Securing overseas players has been tremendously difficult in the current climate. We renegotiated the initial Pujara contract so he could return for more County Championship and Royal London 50-over matches, and this subsequently changed the visa requirements," Keith Greenfield, Sussex's performance director, stated according to the club's official website.
"On top of this, the Ukraine crisis has meant that the Home Office has redirected their resources to help with the displacement of Ukrainian citizens. We were expecting Pujara to be with us last weekend but can now confirm he will be here at the back end of this week," added Greenfield.
Pujara was demoted from the BCCI's annual contract lists after being dropped from India's Test series squad against Sri Lanka. According to the club's statement, his next assignment was to play Sussex's first six Championship games before returning later in the summer for the Royal London Cup and 'some additional four-day games'.
Ian Salisbury, the club's County Championship and 50-over head coach, said that he was "extremely disappointed" as an experienced player like Pujara will not be available for the season's opening day. "Not [to] have a player of Pujara's experience and quality available for the season's opening day," he concluded.
The club will also miss the services of Ollie Robinson in the season opener as the pacer is unavailable after missing England's Tests against West Indies last month following an injury.