Furious Sania Mirza fans labeled Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik as a “cheater” after the veteran batter dropped a bombshell by announcing his wedding with the Islamic country's popular television starlet Sana Javed on Saturday.

 

The announcement by Shoaib Malik shocked fans, especially across the border, as the Pakistan cricketer never confirmed anything about his divorce from Indian tennis icon Sania Mirza.

Through his post on Instagram, he confirmed his wedding to Sana Javed, the star of romantic dramas like Khaani, Ruswai and Dunk.

Sharing pictures of his wedding with Sana Javed on the popular video and photo-sharing social network, Shoaib Malik wrote in the caption: “Alhamdullilah. And We created you in pairs”.

The development took Twitter, now X, by storm as Shoaib Malik's announcement came amid swirling rumors about his relationship status with Sania Mirza.

Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik got married in her hometown of Hyderabad in 2012 and welcomed their only child, a son named Izhaan in 2018.

However, speculation about a divorce between the duo had surged in recent months after the pair was not seen in public together for years.

Earlier this week, Sania Mirza gave fire to such speculations after she shared a cryptic post on social media, stating that divorce was “hard”.

“Marriage is hard. Divorce is hard. Choose your hard. Obesity is hard. Being fit is hard. Choose your hard. Being in debt is hard. Being financially disciplined is hard. Choose your hard. Communication is hard. Not communicating is hard. Choose your hard. Life will never be easy. It will always be hard. But we can choose our hard. Pick wisely,” Sania Mirza, a multiple-time Grand Slam winner in doubles and mixed doubles, wrote in her Instagram story.

After the news of Shoaib Malik's marriage with Sana Javed emerged, Sania Mirza's father Imran Mirza broke his silence on the matter. He told media persons that her daughter had divorced the Pakistani batter and was no longer associated with him.

He informed the Indian press that Sania Mirza had given “khula” to Shoaib Malik. According to Islamic law, “khula” is a Muslim female's right to divorce her husband unilaterally.

It is worth noting that in the past Shoaib Malik had dismissed reports of his separation with Sania Mirza.

“Humey saath mey rehna ka time nahi mil raha (We don't get much time to live together). When they (Sania and Izhan) went to perform Umrah I had commitments here and when I took a break and went to Dubai to spend time with Izhan, she had commitments in IPL. Everybody needs to understand we belong to different countries and have our own commitments. Neither I released a statement nor did she,” the 41-year-old veteran Pakistani cricketer told Geo News last year.

Shoaib Malik, who has represented Pakistan in all three formats of international cricket, is no longer a regular in the national side. He wasn't picked for last year's ODI World Cup in India and his chances of being a part of the national side for this year's T20 World Cup are also slim.

Sania Mirza, a stalwart of Indian tennis, retired from the sport in 2023 after a two-decade illustrious career in which she broke barriers and accomplished feats never accomplished before by a South Asian player.

She was ranked No.1 in doubles, besides winning three Grand Slams each in mixed doubles and doubles.

Her last Grand Slam match was last year's Australian Open mixed doubles final.

In the title clash, Sania Mirza and her Indian partner Rohan Bopanna lost to the Brazilian pair of Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos.

After their defeat in the Australian Open mixed doubles final, an emotional Sania Mirza held back her tears before reflecting on her career.

“If I cry, these are happy tears. I don't want to take away the moment from Matos-Stefani who have deserved this. I'm still going to play a couple more tournaments but my career started in Melbourne in 2005 when I played Serena as an 18-year-old. I have had the privilege of coming back here again and again and win tournaments here and play some great finals here. Rod Laver Arena has been really special life. I couldn't think of a better arena to finish my last Grand Slam,” Sania Mirza said at the time.

“Like Rohan said, he was my first ever mixed doubles partner when I was 14 and we won the nationals. It wasn't a same arena like this one. But that was 22 years ago. And I couldn't think of a better partner, he is one of my best friends and best partner to finish my career with. Obviously we couldn't get over the line but there is no better person for me to finish my Grand Slam career with. Thank you, Rohan,” she added.

In February 2023, after she lost in her last tournament on the WTA tour in Dubai, Sania Mirza underlined that she would like to inspire the next generation of girls to fight for their rights.

“I would like people to remember that this girl fought for the right things. She believed in herself when nobody else did,” Sania Mirza told ESPN.