Pakistan's Abdul Wahid - Pakistan's deputy commissioner for the Shanghai Expo - sees the event as an opportunity for countries to share their unique traditions and cultures while reclaiming a few heroic figures they see as their own outside the sphere of cricket.

As the birthplace of ancient cultures from the Neolithic and Bronze eras, Pakistan is "more than just a green-and-white flag," said Asad Wahid, Abdul's son.

The upcoming expo offers a unique platform to inform the world of what makes the country justifiably proud, he added.