Champions Trophy: Sania Mirza to give India – Pakistan match a miss following French Open commitments

New Delhi: Ace Indian Tennis star Sania Mirza, who is also the wife of former Pakistan cricket team captain Shoaib Malik, is likely to give the highly anticipated ICC Champions Trophy clash between the two countries in England a miss.

The two teams kick-off their campaign by going head to head in the ICC mega event on June 4, with the match taking place at Edgbaston.

As per a report in Geo News, when Shoaib Malik was asked about the presence of his wife for the high-profile encounter, he confirmed that Sania will not be able to visit Birmingham due to her professional commitments with the French Open tennis tournament.

The qualifying rounds for the French Open have started on May 22, while the main rounds will kick off from next May 28.

Considering the bitter Indo-Pak political relations, the Champions Trophy clash will give both sides a rather rare opportunity to lock horns and earn bragging rights as a bilateral series still seems quite far from becoming a reality.

Pakistan cricket bowling coach Azhar Mahmood also reflected in the highly anticipated clash, saying this is an opportunity for their players to become heroes.

"These matches are a great opportunity for players to shine and become heroes whether they are a veteran or a newcomer. I remember my debut against India and I thought this is the time for me to perform and I thought that if I can perform in this game, then I can become a hero. There is never a dull moment in these matches wherever the match is played and whoever holds their nerve and whoever can take the pressure will come out as the winner," PakPassion.net quoted Azhar, as saying.

India last played Pakistan during the 2016 World T20 and came out victorious by 5 wickets.

Pakistan squad: Sarfraz Ahmad (captain), Ahmad Shahzad, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Fahim Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hassan Ali, Imad Wasim, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Shadab Khan, Shoaib Malik and Wahab Riaz.

India squad: Virat Kohli(c), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami