Donald Trump’s immigration ban forces Pakistan-born cricketer to quit tournament

Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/ICC-Americas

New Delhi: United States' Pakistan-born cricketer Fahad Babar was forced to quit tournament mid-way through for fear of being banned entry under President Donald Trump’s immigration ban.

Babar, 24, was playing in the 2016-17 West Indies Cricket Board’s Regional Super50 in Barbados. But he quit the tournament abruptly to return home on Thursday.

USA opening batsman Fahad Babar returns home from @WindiesRegional #Super50. Read here: https://t.co/ennBeXlr4z — ICC Americas (@iccamericas) February 3, 2017

The Chicago resident faced no immigration problems, bur the thought that he could have been barred forced him to leave his team-mates, which also has other five Muslim players.

It's reported that two of them – Ali Khan and Akeem Dodson – are both US citizens, while the rest are Canada residents.

Babar has been living in the US since the age of 14 and had represented country under ICC’s seven-year residency rule.

Donald Trump’s executive order, which bars entry into US from seven majority-Muslim population are Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, came into effect from January 27.