Amidst the rumors of a split with Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza, Pakistani cricket maestro Shoaib Malik has tied the knot with Pakistani actress Sana Javed. Malik shared the update on Saturday through a social media post on his account, formerly known as ‘Ex’ on Twitter. The post includes pictures from their wedding ceremony with the caption: “And we’ve become a pair.”

Rumors of Malik dating Javed had been circulating for quite some time. The Pakistani former captain had earlier added fuel to the speculations when he shared birthday wishes for the actress last year, along with a picture of both, saying, “Happy birthday buddy.”

Malik had stood by her when the actress faced alleged inappropriate behavior from junior and makeup artists on the sets. Malik said, “I’ve known Sana Javed for quite some time and have had the opportunity to work with her several times. Based on my personal experience, I can only say that she has always been kind and humble towards me and the people around us.” This was reiterated in a tweet in March 2022.

Amidst the rumors of a split with Mirza, Malik’s wedding post emerged as a big surprise on both sides. The two tied the knot in a traditional Muslim ceremony in Hyderabad in 2010, followed by a Walima ceremony in Sialkot, Pakistan. Malik and Mirza also have a son, Izhaan, born in 2018.

While there is no information on how cracks appeared in their relationship, it is believed to have happened around the first half of 2021. According to their social media presence, Sania and Shoaib will remain active on Instagram, regularly posting pictures and stories. They are currently exploring the world together and enjoying beach vibes in Dubai with their child. However, their social media activity has reduced over time.

Last year, there were rumors about Sania and Shoaib appearing together on a TV show, which eventually materialized as “The Mirza Malik Show” presented by Spotify. In this 40-minute episode, they played hosts to several famous personalities.

Before this, on Wednesday, Sania shared a cryptic post on her Instagram handle, reigniting speculations about a split with Shoaib. Her post read: “Marriage is hard. Divorce is hard. Choose your hard. Obesity is hard. 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. Choose wisely.”

Is this the third marriage of Shoeb Malik?

On the record, this is Malik’s second marriage. However, before marrying Sania, Malik was reportedly married to Ayesha Siddiqui, although the cricketer denied it. During his wedding ceremony with Mirza, allegations were made against Malik that he was already married. Ayesha, her family, and her sister Maha had brought up this issue on national television. According to Malik’s own admission, the entire chapter involving Ayesha was nothing more than an incident of fraud.

They got in touch over phone calls in the early 2000s, with Ayesha introducing herself as Shoaib’s fan. As they started talking more, Malik confessed that they developed feelings for each other. However, whenever Shoaib wanted to meet Ayesha, she would not make herself available. In 2002, Malik came to Hyderabad to meet her, but Ayesha told him that she had to fly to Saudi Arabia urgently. Three years later, a day before Malik and his family were supposed to meet Ayesha’s family, they were told that Ayesha had to leave for the USA.

Ayesha, however, wanted Malik to have a telephonic ‘Nikah,’ but the cricketer did not agree and instead insisted on having a full-fledged ceremony where the families could be involved. As it turned out, the girl he saw in photographs and the one he was speaking to were two different individuals. Malik had even sent a legal notice to Ayesha’s father, M.A. Siddiqui, but the story did not end there. Ayesha leveled strong allegations against Shoaib, saying that they had an ‘intimate relationship.’ She also claimed that she was pregnant at one point during their ‘marriage,’ which ended in a miscarriage.