5 Overseas cricketers who married Indian women

Someone has rightly said, “Love knows no religion, age, distance or language.” If the two people are destined to be together, then they will defy all the odds and even the sports has witnessed such couples. The two people from different industries falling for each other in India is not new and there have also been instances when the athletes representing the country have got hitched to each other.

Badminton stars Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap is the best example as the adorable couple exchanged the marriage nows recently. When it comes to love, how can one forget Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma? They got married to each other in December 2017 and have been setting the couple goals ever since then.

Though there have been more than a few instances when the foreign cricketers have fallen for the Indian women or rather celebrities.

Here we shortlist five such cricketers who have married the Indian women are living happily:

1. Shoaib Malik and Sania Mirza

Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik and the Indian Tennis star Sania Mirza tied the knot in April 2010 amidst a lot of controversies. The tensions between India and Pakistan is well known to everyone and this decision from the couple has set everyone on fire. The media from both the countries were wildly speculating the outcome of this union and despite many arguing, Shoaib and Sania got the backing from their family as they got hitched.

Though their love story is quite interesting. It took around three meetings for the adorable couple to decide that they should know each other more. They first met at a restaurant in Hobart and then Malik had gone to watch Sania play at the Tennis court. They dated each other for close to five months before taking a decision on their marriage even as many questioned Sania’s nationality.

However, she has been playing for India even after the marriage over the last nine years and both have a baby as well now and have named him Izhaan Mirza Malik.

2. Shaun Tait and Mashoom Singha

Australian speedster Shaun Tait rose to fame in the cricketing arena thanks to his pace. He played a total of 59 matches for Australia across the three formats and was unfortunate to not continue due to long-lasting injuries. However, he was also in the news for his off-field association with the Indian model Mashoom Singha. The couple is known to have met at an after-party during the Indian Premier League (IPL).

After dating each other for some time, the couple got married to each other in 2014. The wedding which took place in Mumbai was a close-knit affair as the cricketer’s Australian flew all the way to India to attend the ceremony. The Indian cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan were also among the attendees. Shaun and Mashoom have a baby now and are living happily with the former Aussie cricketer becoming the Indian citizen in 2017.

3. Muttiah Muralitharan and Madhimalar Ramamurthy

Muttiah Muralitharan’s love story is no less than a movie script. He got hitched to the Chennai-born Madhimalar Ramamurthy in March 2005 and it took only one meeting between the two for their families to get things rolling. According to The Bridal Box, it all began when the popular Tamil actor, Vagai Chandrasekhar met Murali’s mother who, during the conversation, said that she was looking for a suitable bride for the cricketer.

Chandrasekhar then told her about the then 24-year-old Madhimalar whom he knew since childhood. However, when Murali was told about the same, he was strictly against getting married and wanted to concentrate on his game. It took a lot for his mother and Chandrasekhar to convince the legendary off-spinner after which Murali flew down to Chennai in November 2004 to meet Madhimalar.

Well, the first meeting was enough for the cricketer to be clean bowled. Both of them liked each other and they got married in the next four months itself. They have two children now and are living happily together.

4. Zaheer Abbas and Rita Luthra

Zaheer Abbas was one of the finest players from Pakistan during his playing days. He had also bagged a County contract from Gloucestershire in the 1980s. When he was in the United Kingdom to play in the tournament, he met Rita who was studying the interior designing in the same country. Both of them fell for each other and then married in 1988.

The families of the couple didn’t oppose much as well Abbas’s father was friends with Rita’s father according to Pakistani Newspaper The Nation. Rita later changed her religion and her name changed to Samina Abbas as they are living happily in Karachi now. Rita is also running the interior designing business while Zaheer, after a few years of their marriage retired from the game.

5. Mike Brearley and Mana Sarabhai

Mike Brearley is known as England’s one of the most astute captains. He was a clever cricketer on the 22 yards and took a liking towards Mana Sarabhai, the daughter of highly successful businessman Gautam Sarabhai in Ahmedabad. Mike met Mana during England’s tour of India in 1976/77.

He took Gujarati lessons for almost four years from the prominent poet Saroop Dhruv on the insistence of Gautam who believed that being Ahmedabad’s jamai, Brearley should know its culture and language. The couple now has two children and are settled in London.

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