5 cricketers with controversial married lives

When it comes to cricketers, their followers are mostly aware of their performances on the cricket pitch. They become idols and generate a tremendous fandom over the course of their career. They keep racking up records and capture the imaginations of the fans from around the world. However, at the end of the day, the players are humans, composed of blood and flesh and therefore have a personal life.

And it may not be as smooth as their cricketing life. Just like a normal person, even they have to encounter the cruelty and brutality of life, which involves their journey with their better-halves. Over the years, a number of the players have also gone on to hog the headlines, surrounding the constant tensions in their personal relationship with wives. In our article, we take a look at five of them.

Murali Vijay

The out-of-favour Indian batsman, Murali Vijay married Nikita Vanjara at the end of 2012 and they also have a three-year-old son. However, the wedding took place in pretty controversial circumstances. Prior to that Nikita was hitched to Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik. It was also learned that Nikita was Karthik’s childhood friend and their fathers were also extremely close to each other.

Back in 2007, Karthik and Vanjara tied the knots and the incident that led to their breakup took place in 2012 during a Vijay Hazare Trophy match. Karthik divorced his wife, who was pregnant with a boy. Both Vijay and Karthik have kept mum about the issue and have handled things maturely. The cricketers play for Tamil Nadu in the domestic circuit and have also played together for the Indian team.

Graeme Smith

The 38-year-old Graeme Smith pledged troth with Irish singer, Morgan Deane back in August 2011 and their wedding took place at the St Bernard Catholic Church in Claremont, Cape Town. In the next year, the couple gave birth to their daughter, Cadence Christine Smith and the next year saw the couple welcome a baby boy Carter McMorrin Smith. Nevertheless, things didn’t pan out smoothly thereafter.

Back on March 2015, Smith was reported to have mistakenly sent a message to his wife instead of his lawyer where he wanted a divorce. Surprisingly, minutes before, the former South African captain reassured her that their relationship could be saved and the text got her devastated. Previously, on February 8, 2015, the duo announced that they would be separating after their four years of marriage.

Imran Khan

The current Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, apart from his glorious cricket career, also had a topsy-turvy married life. Back in 1995, he got married to Jemima Goldsmith and nine years later in 2004, the couple divorced as Imran’s wife found it tough to adjust to the political life of the former all-rounder. In 2014, Khan pledged troth with Reham Khan and their relationship survived only a year.

Imran and Reham separated on October 30, 2015. Later Reham went on to accuse Khan and revealed some of his dark fantasies. She put forth the comments in her book that released last year and went on to hog the limelight for quite some time. Imran’s second wife also kept hurling accusations after he became the PM of Pakistan. Imran is currently married to Bushra Maneka, the first lady of Pakistan.

Sanath Jayasuriya

The very explosive Sanath Jayasuriya was recently banned for a couple of years by the International Cricket Council (ICC) owing to corruption in cricket. His personal life has also been marred by controversies especially his marriage endeavour. In 1998, the Matara-born Jayasuriya tied the knots with Sumudu Karunanayake, an AirLanka ground hostess, but separated in the very next year.

Jayasuriya married Sandra de Silva a former flight attendant of Sri Lankan Airlines. Both also have three children Savindi Jayasuriya, Yalindi Jayasuriya, and Ranuka Jayasuriya. Nonetheless, even their marriage couldn’t pass the test of times as they separated in early 2012. After his divorce, Sanath met another air hostess Maleeka Sirisena, also a movie actress. They got married at a Buddhist Temple in Mt. Lavinia.

Brett Lee

Brett Lee, undoubtedly one of the most fearsome fast bowlers, who once used to rattle the best of batsmen with his sheer pace, hasn’t had the smoothest of runs in his personal life. Back in June 2016, Lee got married to Elizabeth Kemp and on November 16, 2006, the couple gave birth to a boy and named him Preston Charles. However, later on, August 21, 2008, Lee confirmed his separation from Kemp.

In the next year, they divorced. As per media reports, it was learned that Kemp was involved in an extra-marital affair with a rugby player in Brisbane. Lee was believed to have suspicions about the trips and anomalies in Kemp’s travel stories. Kemp said that she was shattered after the breakup. In 2014, Brett tied the knots with Lana Anderson, a socialite, and they have a daughter Helena, born on December 2015.

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