New Delhi, April 12 -- India's link with Iran goes back to the days when it was Persia, enriched over the centuries by the exchange of people, of course, language, culture, food and, when I was in school, football.

There was "Badshah" or Majid Bishkar, and his East Bengal teammate Jamshid Nassiri. Both were Aligarh Muslim University students before they became Indian legends, Nassiri scoring more than 100 goals in India. In 2019, when Bishkar returned to Kolkata after his playing days were long done, landing at 3am and wondering how to get to his hotel, he left the terminal and saw hundreds of East Bengal supporters wearing the team jersey and waving flags. They were shouting, "Badshah is here", Bishkar recalled to reporters. "I rubbed m...