Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik has finally opened-up on his marriage with India’s tennis sensation Sania Mirza.
Indian Tennis star Sania Mirza and Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik turned into the talk of the town both countries when they get married. The grand wedding took place at the Taj Krishna Hotel in Hyderabad in 2008. Since Sania is living in the Hyderabad while Shoaib mostly stays at his hometown Sialkot in Pakistan, they don’t get much time to spend with each other.
During a recent interview, Malik opened up about his marriage with Sania. He told that he wasn’t nervous about tying the knot with her due to the unhealthy relations between the two neighboring countries.
“No, not at all. In a marriage, you don’t concern yourself with where your partner is from or what is going on between the countries or in politics. That is not our domain. If you love someone and get married to that person that should be all that matters, regardless of which country you come from. On a wider point, I have many friends who are Indian, and I don’t find anything strained because of the relationship between the two countries. I am a cricketer, not a politician,” he said.
To meet his wife, the former Pakistan skipper has traveled to India several times. He has also represented his team against India at the highest level.
Shoaib and Sania got blessed with a baby boy in 2018, which saw the tennis ace taking a maternity break. She made a sensational comeback to the game earlier this year by winning the WTA Hobart International doubles final in Australia.
Talking about Malik, the veteran Pakistan cricketer has retired from Tests and ODIs but is eyeing a spot in the squad for T20 World Cup. He has also been picked in the 29-member squad for the England tour.
Shoaib Malik set to meet family after five months
Shoaib has been given special permission to skip the first four weeks of Pakistan’s training in England to meet his family. Malik has been in Pakistan since the lockdown while Sania is in India.
“Unlike the rest of us, Shoaib Malik has not seen his immediate family for nearly five months due to his commitments and the subsequent international travel bans following the CoronaViris pandemic. As travel restrictions are now slowly easing out and there is an opportunity for a family reunion, it is appropriate that at a human level we show compassion as part of our duty of care and respect Shoaib’s request,” Wasim Khan, PCB’s CEO, said on Saturday.
Know more about Sania Mirza’s
Shoaib Malik (born 1 February 1982) is a Pakistani cricketer who plays for the Pakistan national cricket team and Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). He was the captain of the Pakistan national cricket team from 2007 to 2009. On 3 November 2015, he announced his retirement from Test cricket to focus on the 2019 Cricket World Cup. On 2 July 2018, he became the first male cricketer to play 100 T20Is. On 5 July 2019, he announced his retirement from One Day International cricket after Pakistan won their last group stage game against Bangladesh at Lord’s at the 2019 Cricket World Cup.
Shoaib Malik has taken over 150 ODI wickets. Malik was ranked second, behind teammate Shahid Afridi, in the ICC ODI all-rounder rankings in June 2008. In March 2010, Malik received a one-year ban from international cricket from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB); the ban was overturned two months later. On 13 September 2017, Malik became the highest run-scorer in T20I for Pakistan. On 1 July 2018, Malik also became the first Asian batsman to score 2,000 runs in T20Is, and third overall and first player to play 100 T20Is in the world.
In August 2018, during the 2018 Caribbean Premier League tournament, he became the fourth batsman to score 8,000 runs in T20s. In July 2019, following Pakistan’s last match in the 2019 Cricket World Cup, Shoaib announced his retirement from ODI cricket.