Sania Mirza on a holiday in Pakistan

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

With a knee injury keeping her off court, tennis star Sania Mirza is on holiday in Pakistan with cricketer husband Shoaib Malik, who will be competing in the upcoming National Twenty20 Championships.

Mirza got a warm welcome when she reached Karachi two days ago with Malik, but refrained from speaking to the media. Sania has been diagnosed with a ruptured left knee miniscus and was advised six weeks rest by a specialist.

Dressed in a red salwar kameez, Sania was cheered by people at Karachi airport when she arrived with Malik in the evening.

This is the first time Sania is visiting Pakistan's biggest city since she went there to play in an international junior tennis tournament in the 90s. Malik said he hoped bilateral cricket relations with India would resume soon.

"I don't think the media should create so much hype around us and our marriage, but yes, I do hope our marriage helps people in both countries to realise we can co-exist peacefully. I hope our marriage helps in improving relations between the two countries," the former Pakistan captain told us.

Sania, who married Malik in April 2010, is in Pakistan visiting her in-laws in Malik's hometown of Sialkot, besides travelling to Lahore on a private visit.

Sources said Malik arranged for special permission for his wife to be in Karachi for the duration of the tournament, in which he is captaining the Sialkot Stallions.

"I am here to play cricket and my wife is with me on holiday, but obviously her presence is good for me and I hope to do well in the national tournament," he told us.