Karachi/New Delhi, Jan 20: Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik announced on Saturday that he has married a second time to the country's popular actor Sana Javed in Karachi, finally ending the speculations around his separation with Indian tennis star Sania Mirza.
The cricketer released his wedding photograph on social media platform X with his new wife, with the words "And We created you in pairs".
There have been strong rumours since 2022 about differences between 41-year-old Shoaib and Sania leading to a split, and they have rarely been seen together in the last couple of years.
Just a few days back Malik unfollowed the Indian star on Instagram.
Their five-year-old son Izaan lives with Sania.
A family source told PTI that Sania had initiated the divorce proceedings.
"It was a 'khula'. I do not wish to comment beyond this," said the source. Khula refers to the right of a Muslim woman to unilaterally divorce her husband.
Shoaib and Sania had got married in the Indian player's hometown Hyderabad in April 2010 and they used to live in Dubai.
The social media posts by the 37-year-old Sania also indicated that she was under stress.
About a week ago she posted on Instagram, "When something disturbs the peace of your heart, let it go," along with a picture of herself, standing before a mirror with eyes closed.
Two days back also she posted a story on instagram, indicating the turmoil within.
"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. No communicating is hard. Life will never be easy. I will always be hard. But we can choose our hard. Pick wisely."
The 30-year-old Sana Javed who has starred in a number of hit drama serial and also acted in Pakistani films had married singer Umair Jaiswal in 2020 at a simple ceremony amid the coronavirus pandemic.
But, two months earlier, reports about their divorce emerged.
Sania, one of India's greatest tennis players had announced her retirement last year.
In a career spanning 20 years, where she won 43 WTA doubles titles and one singles trophy, Sania was seen as a trailblazer for women in sport.
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Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
