But, when the player -- the only one from across the border to play in this IPL -- returned from Mohali's PCA stadium after his first practice session for Team Punjab on Monday, he couldn't help but dismiss the rift between Pakistan and India, saying "that having been brought up in Punjab in Pakistan and having seen Punjab in India, he still harbours a wishful thought of seeing the two countries as border-less nations".
"My dada (grandpa) was born and brought up in Amritsar. Even when he moved to Multan's Jahaniamandi in Pakistan, his mind would race back to memories of his youthful days of that vast nation. So much that he would regale us like a raconteur with bedtime stories from this pre-Partition days - how they would make halwa and chapatis together. It's no different world," Mahmood gushed, while sharing his childhood memories with The Times of India.
The swashbuckling cricketer, who took the world by storm when he scored three centuries against South Africa in late 90s, said that cricket was the best way to remove the obstruction of check posts at the border between the two nations.The cricketer said that when he got the opportunity to represent Team Punjab, he kept on drawing parallel between habits of the people from regions that share the same name in the two rival nations.
Mahmood, now a British passport-holder, is making his debut in the IPL after Team Punjab bought him for $200,000.
"My wife used to shop from Sector 17 in Chandigarh a lot. She phoned me last evening and kept talking about Indian sarees and suits we bought from this market. It's the same. The culture, the way we shop, pick and choose and of course bargain," Mahmood laughed.
He said that he was glad he got an opportunity to speak in Punjabi to so many people that the hotel he was staying in."Pindi (Rawalpindi) and Islamabad are like the similar twin cities as Mohali and Chandigarh," he gushed, adding, "In UK, I converse with my wife in Urdu and with rest of people, I have to talk in English. I am so delighted to be speaking in chaste Punjabi here".
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'I've more pals in India than Pak'
Former Pakistan cricket all-rounder Azhar Mahmood said he now has more friends in India than in Pakistan. "I have really have found good friends with Zaheer, Ashish Nehra and Harbhajan Singh. In fact, Nehra even helped me sort the recent visa trouble I faced." Mahmood's visa had earlier allowed one entry point - New Delhi - into the country and destination as Chandigarh. However, the issue was resolved on Sunday, allowing him to travel with his team at all the places they play the country.
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