'Imran, Benazir had a roaring affair at Oxford'

The author of a new biography on Imran Khan claims that the cricketer-turned-politician was romantically involved with slain Pakistan PM Benazir Bhutto when both of them studied together at Oxford University.In his book, Christopher Sandford has written that Bhutto became infatuated with Khan and the duo enjoyed a "close" and possibly "sexual" relationship. The author has also alleged that Khan's mother even tried to organise an arranged marriage between the pair, but to no avail.

It was believed that Khan and Bhutto had always been at loggerheads, both politically and personally. But Sandford, who interviewed both Khan and his ex-wife Jemima for the book, claimed that a source told him that Bhutto was 21 and in her second year at Lady Margaret Hall when she became close to the debonair cricketer in 1975. The source, he said, also revealed that Bhutto had been "visibly impressed" by Khan and might even have been the first to call him the "Lion of Lahore".

"In any event, it seems fairly clear that for at least a month or two the couple was close. There was a lot of giggling whenever they appeared together in public," the Telegraph quoted Sandford as having told the Daily Mail. He added, "It also seems fair to say that the relationship
was 'sexual', in the sense that it could only have existed between a man and a woman. The reason some supposed it went further was because, to quote one Oxford friend, 'Imran slept with everyone'."

Imran rebuffed the claims, saying he never had a sexual relationship with her.


Courtesy TOI