Cricketers and their personal lives have always got the paparazzi following. Be it Virat Kohli’s wedding with Anushka Sharma in Italy or youngster Shubman Gill’s funny sarcastic catch-ups with rumoured girlfriend Sara Tendulkar on Instagram, one can’t keep the newsmakers away. (More Cricket News)
On a day when the Indian cricket team for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup was to be named, 35-year-old Shikhar Dhawan was making headlines for the wrong reasons. The dashing India opener and his wife of eight years Ayesha Mukherjee had divorced.
Ayesha Mukherjee, a Melbourne-based Bengali, posted a long emotional Instagram post on Tuesday to reveal her separation with the left-handed Shikhar Dhawan. Ayesha, 46, has now become a two-time divorcee. Ayesha and Shikhar Dhawan have a son, Zoravar, who is seven.
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Here's a list of Indian cricketers who divorced:
Javagal Srinath
Just like Shikhar Dhawan, former India pacer Javagal Srinath had an unsuccessful marriage after spending nine years with Jyotsna. The couple got married in 1999 but separated in 2008. The 52-year-old former Indian pacer, who has 551 international wickets to his name and is currently an ICC match referee, later tied the knot with journalist Madhavi Patravali.
Vinod Kambli
Indian batting star Vinod Kambli got hitched to his childhood friend Noella Lewis in 1998. However, the couple got separated. Kambli then married fashion model Andrea Hewitt. A son was born to Kambli and Andrea in 2010. They named him Jesus Christiano Kambli.
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Mohammed Azharuddin
Decades before Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma happened, former India cricket team skipper Mohammad Azharuddin used to make headlines with Bollywood actress Sangeeta Bijlani. The duo married in 1996. However, Azharuddin and Bijlani separated in 2010. This was Azharuddin’s second divorce. He had earlier divorced his first wife Naureen before marrying Bijlani.
Azharuddin had two sons – Asaduddin and Ayazuddin – with Naureen, whom he married in 1987. In a tragic motorbike accident, Azharuddin, a former Congress MP, lost his younger son Ayazuddin in 2011.
Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik’s divorce is perhaps the most dramatic. After marrying his childhood friend Nikita Vanjara in 2007, the Indian wicketkeeper found that Nikita was having an affair with his India and Tamil Nadu teammate Murali Vijay. Karthik divorced Nikita in 2012 before getting hitched to current India squash star Dipika Pallikal three years later. Murali Vijay and Nikita have two sons and a daughter.
Yograj Singh
Former India cricketer Yograj Singh married Shabnam Singh but after a few years, the couple divorced. Yograj and Shabnam are parents to Yuvraj Singh, the famous all-rounder who helped India win the 2011 ICC World Cup-winning campaign in Mumbai.
