Explore the intriguing stories of five famous cricketers who married their cousins or friends’ ex-wives. This unique trend in relationships showcases the blend of personal and professional lives in the cricketing world, often stirring curiosity and controversy.
1. Virender Sehwag and Aarti Ahlawat
The former swashbuckling opener of the Indian cricket team, Virender Sehwag’s professional life is known to many and little is known about his personal life. Well, the much-acknowledged cricketer is married to Aarti Ahlawat. Sehwag was just 21 when he proposed to Aarti. They dated for five years, after which the duo got married on April 22, 2004. It’s been 14 years that the two have been enjoying the marital bliss. But do you know what? Aarti and Virender are actually distant relatives of each other. In fact, Aarti also confirmed this in an interview and said that theirs was a love marriage within their own family. It all began when one of Sehwag’s cousin got married to Aarti’s aunt. And now, this cutesy couple is proud parents of two boys, Aryavir and Vedant.
2. Saeed Anwar and Lubna
An opening batsman and an occasional slow left-arm orthodox bowler, Saeed Anwar is one of the most amazing cricketers from Pakistan team. He tied the knot with his cousin named, Lubna in March 1996. Lubna who is a doctor by profession, is also a distant cousin of the cricketer. Saeed and Lubna had a lovely daughter together whom they named, Bismah. But their little one died in 2001 due to a prolonged illness that could not get cured
3. Murli Vijay and Nikita
One of the famous cricketers Murli Vijay has always been in the news for his commendable performance on the field. Yet again, he is one celeb whose personal life is hardly known to many people. The cricketer is married to Nikita Vanjara who is now known as Nikita Vijay post their marriage. Murli and Nikita tied the nuptial knot in the year 2012. All this while, the two have been enjoying their marital bliss. But do you know with whom Nikita was reportedly married prior to Murli? Yes, it’s Nikita’s second marriage as she was earlier married to another cricketer of the Indian team, Dinesh Karthik. It was a love marriage and they were childhood lovebirds.
4. Shahid Afridi and Nadia Afridi
Popularly known as Boom Boom, former Pakistani cricketer and former captain of the Pakistan national cricket team, Shahid Afridi has been a successful all-rounder. He had his own charm when he was on the field. Shahid Afridi is married to Nadia, who is his maternal cousin. Yes, the two tied the knot after Afridi’s father arranged their match. Shahid and Nadia together are parents to four beautiful daughters.
5. Upul Tharanga and Nilanka Tharanga
Upul Tharanga is a Srilankan player who is married to Nilanka. Upul is a left-handed opening batsman of the Srilankan team as well as sporadic wicketkeeper. The cricketer’s wife Nilanka was earlier married to another Sri Lankan player whose name was Tilakratne Dilshan. And if the reports are to be believed, the closeness between Upul and Nilanka was what created rifts between her and Dilshan, which eventually led to their divorce.