With her impending marriage to former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik - currently serving a one-year ban imposed by the PCB - Indian tennis star Sania Mirza will now have three cricket captains in her family.

By Gulu Ezekiel

New Delhi: With her impending marriage to former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik - currently serving a one-year ban imposed by the PCB - Indian tennis star Sania Mirza will now have three cricket captains in her family.

Sania's cousin is Nisar Ahmed, son of the late Ghulam Ahmed who played 22 Test matches as an off-spinner in the 1940s and 50s, captaining India in three Tests.

Some years back Nisar explained to this writer: "Our grandmothers are sisters - Sania's father's mother and my mother's mother. Our family is very proud of Sania's tennis career."

The Hyderabadi is India's most successful woman tennis player of all time.

Sania is thus also related to former Pakistan captain Asif Iqbal, the son of Ghulam Ahmed's sister. Asif moved from Hyderabad (Deccan) to Pakistan in 1961 as a teenager and went onto captain his adopted country six times in Test cricket, all in India. He played in 58 Tests from 1964 to 1980 as well as in two World Cups.

While in India he went by the name of Asif Iqbal Razvi and represented Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy.

Asif made an impressive first-class debut (6 wickets in the match and 26 in his only innings) for South Zone as a teenager against the touring Pakistan side at Hyderabad in January 1961.

Their captain Fazal Mahmood then persuaded uncle Ghulam that Asif would have a bright future in Pakistan where most of his family had already moved to. Asif made his Test debut for Pakistan three years later.

Sania lists cricket as a hobby and had said in an interview: "If I were a guy, I would be playing cricket." She also idolizes Sachin Tendulkar.

Father Imran played club cricket in Mumbai (where Sania was born) and Hyderabad where the family resides.

"My father was a defensive batsman but he always told me to play attacking tennis," according to Sania.

Assuming the marriage does go through, the Mirza family will join a legendary cricket family from Australia which also boats of three captains.

Ian Chappell and his brother Greg both led their country with distinction in the 70s and 80s while their maternal grandfather Vic Richardson was captain in the 1930s.