There is a more authentic Indian cricket connection to Afghanistan and that is through the family roots of Iftikhar Ali Khan, the Nawab of Pataudi.
Five brothers playing first class cricket, including four appearing in Test matches as well, reads like a fairy tale. But it is true. Indeed, cricket historians and statisticians have never been tired of recounting how Hanif Mohammad, who passed into the ages on August 11, and his three brothers dominated Pakistan cricket in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Apart from Hanif, eldest Wazir Mohammad and younger ones Mushtaq Mohammad and Sadiq Mohammad represented Pakistan in the top division of cricket.
India should remember that Pakistan-Saudi Arabia relations will remain special due, not least, to bonds of all Muslims with The Holy Land. They would also be strategic enough, irrespective of whether the ambassador is a military man or a career civilian appointee., notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.