The Indo- Pak couple bowled over in UAE

Dubai, Sept. 23: While India and Pakistan’s fierce cricket rivalry has been on display at the Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates, some families in the country have divided loyalties.

The UAE is home to many cricket- loving crossborder couples from India and Pakistan who find it an easier option than living on the subcontinent, where Pakistanis have trouble getting visas for India, and vice versa.

Cross- border ties have been strained ever since the violence and upheaval that accompanied the creation of modern India and Pakistan at the end of British rule in August 1947.

One rare high- profile example is Indian tennis player Sania Mirza and her husband, Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik, who have a home in Dubai.

Indian national Kasim Vakkil and his wife Ghazala, from Pakistan, are also part of the UAE’s large South Asian community. “My marriage would not have been possible if we were not living in UAE,” Kasim said.

“Ghazala is from Lahore and I am from Mumbai but living at this neutral venue made our marriage possible.”

They came together through cricket when Kasim met his future father- in- law at a game between Pakistan and South Africa in the UAE, where Pakistan hosts games owing to the risk of terror attacks on home soil.

“I went to watch a match between Pakistan and South Africa in 2014 where I met Ghazala’s father which became the first step towards our proposal,” said Kasim, a former collegelevel fast bowler.