Marrying Shoaib was the closest thing to becoming a cricketer myself: Sania Mirza

Ace athletes, cricketer Shoaib Malik and tennis star Sania Mirza, along with their three-year-old son Izhaan, made an appearance on Time Out With Ahsan Khan while promoting their newly launched line of fragrances.

Their cross-border love saga has kept the couple in the headlines frequently, with their successful sporting careers adding to the buzz, due mainly to the fact that both the athletes’ countries of birth, India for Sania and Pakistan for Shoaib, are arch-rivals.

Celebrating more than a decade of togetherness, the duo shared details about their life off-screen, reflecting on their relationship and journey so far. The couple also shed light on their experiences with each other’s families. With Sania’s wit, Shoaib’s singing and Izhaan’s overdose of cuteness, their interview was a major hit and is currently trending on YouTube even after a week of its release.

The couple has shared in earlier interviews that their love story began in Hobart, Australia in 2009, with Mirza deeming it an act of destiny given the country’s near-dead social scene. However, in reality, it was revealed to be Shoaib’s chase plan to get the girl.

The cricketer revealed that when the two first met in 2003, Sania wasn’t all that welcoming and didn’t show interest in him. In response to Shoaib’s comments, the tennis player replied, “We are all aware of the image cricketers had. Of course, I had to be careful.” Shoaib added cheekily, “Yet you decided to marry one after all.”

The couple has created a home in Dubai, a mid-point for both of them when it comes to matters of travel and otherwise. Upon the similarities and differences they’ve noticed and experienced between India and Pakistan during their decade-long marriage, the two shared that there are really no major differences. “Lahore and Delhi feel like the same place. Bombay and Karachi have the same people, the same kind of food. If you go to Chandigarh and UP in Punjab, almost everything is the same,” said the cricketer.

Sania, who belongs to Southern India, said she felt her husband’s family is very “vibrant and colourful” but that it’s mainly due to the Punjabi culture that’s prevalent in both countries. However, since the tennis star grew up in a relatively quiet environment, she found it difficult to adjust to all the lively hullabaloo.

Speaking about favourite foods and delicacies, Shoaib revealed that he enjoys Sialkot’s Halwa Puri. sharing, “Nobody does it better. I’ve often tried making it or trying it at different places, but it has no match.” Similarly, Sania is a fan of Hyderabad’s special chicken 65 and chicken chilli. “There’s something about the spices that no one can quite pick on. It’s delicious.”

When asked about how his frequent need to travel affects his relationship with his son, Shoaib said, “It definitely gets emotional at times. During Covid, I was away from them for about seven or eight months and Izhaan was very young back then. At that age, all they care about is their toys and playtime and barely stay still for video calls. I missed them a lot.” He added, “Despite that, whenever we would call, his first word would be ‘Baba’, so it was a happy feeling that he recognised me.”

On the controversies that are often stirred up by the media, Sania shared that despite the two have been together for 12 years, journalists continue to ask the couple redundant questions. She explained, “Every time there’s an India-Pakistan match, journalists always ask me which side I am supporting. They think it’s the question of the year, and I’m sick of it. I mean, it’s been twelve years. Get over it. For whoever is watching, please don’t ask me that again.”

The tennis player shared that journalists are always looking for dramatic answers. “They want me to say crazy things like, ‘He sleeps on the sofa when they beat India,’ or that we keep fighting, but three’s nothing like that. It’s a game, people lose and win and it’s high time media should understand that.”

However, dealing with media comes easy to Sania. She has been in the news since she was sixteen because of her work. “It was an anxiety-inducing situation when I was younger, but everyone learns with time. I apparently become a trending topic any time I have an opinion, so I’m still in the process of learning, I guess.”

Sania also revealed her family is obsessed with cricket, with her dad being a former sports journalist and her sister married to a cricketer too. “If I was a boy, I would’ve been a cricketer too, for sure,” said the tennis player with a chuckle.

“Marrying Shoaib was the closest thing to being a cricketer myself, so my dad was very happy about it,” added Sania.

On things that bother them about each other, Shoaib shared that Sania wants to sort issues and talk things out immediately after a misunderstanding, whereas the cricketer likes to sleep on things and ponder over them before reacting. The two often get into arguments and their approaches to the solution often become a cause of conflict themselves. However, the couple shared that Sania holds the upper hand usually and convinces Shoaib to sort things and return to normalcy.

While there was a lot of conversation, the show also featured some singing on the part of Sania, Shoaib and their son as well. Izhaan crooned to his favourite Bollywood song, Gore Gore Mukhre Pe Kala Kala Chashma, while Shoaib dedicated Atif Aslam’s romantic ballad Tere Bin to his wife.

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