Divorce controversy: Sania Mirza, Shoaib Malik, Ayesha Omar - the story so far

New Delhi

Former Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik recently shared a picture with Pakistani actress Sana Javed on his official Instagram account. This came amid cricketer's divorce rumours with Indian tennis star Sania Mirza. The post comprises pictures which look like a wedding ceremony with the caption, "And we created you in pairs."

Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik married each other in 2010, leading to plenty of news about the Indian-Pakistani couple's cross-border love story. It was Shoaib who arranged a meeting with the tennis star when they first met each other in Australia.

Hours later on Saturday (Jan 20), Sania's father, Imran Mirza, confirmed his daughter's separation, revealing that she had opted for a 'khula' from the cricketer.

"It was a 'khula.' I do not wish to comment beyond this," he stated.

On Sunday, Sania's sister, Anam Mirza, broke her silence with a statement confirming the tennis star's divorce.

In a post shared on her Instagram handle, Anam shared that Sania and Shoaib have been divorced for months now.

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In her autobiography, "Ace Against Odds", Sania said that she met her husband when they were both going through difficult times professionally. But, this was not the first time that the celebrity duo had tied the knot, Shoaib Malik married his first wife, Ayesha Siddique back in 2002; and Sania Mirza was engaged to her childhood friend, Sohrab Mirza before marrying Shoaib Malik. 

Who is Sana Javed?

Sana Javed is a Pakistani actor who appears in Urdu television. She made her debut in 2012 with Shehr-e-Zaat and later appeared in several other serials.

She received recognition after portraying the titular role in the romantic drama Khaani, for which she received a nomination at the Lux Style Awards. She gained praise for her social dramas Ruswai and Dunk.

What was the controversy?

Though the actual reason for their alleged split is not known yet, there were some rumours back in 2022 that the cricketer had reportedly cheated on the tennis star with a popular Pakistani actress and model named Ayesha Omar. There were reports in Pakistani media that both Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik are currently living separately and only co-parenting their son, Izhaan.

Both the stars didn't confirm anything at that time but, Sania Mirza shared some cryptic posts on Instagram during the rumours, which read, "Where do broken hearts go? To find Allah". She also shared a cute photo with her son Izhaan and wrote, “The moments that get me through the hardest days.”

Who is Ayesha Omar and why she was in the news?

Ayesha Omar is a Pakistani actress, model and YouTuber. She is one of the most popular and highest-paid actresses in Pakistan and is considered a style icon in her home country. Before coming into movies in 2015, she also released her singles in 2012, which was a commercial success.

She is known to have worked in Pakistani films like Karachi Se Lahore (2015), Yalghaar (2017) and Kaaf Kangana (2019). She is reportedly one of the highest-paid actresses and enjoys a massive fan following on her YouTube account. She made her film debut in the lead role with the successful romantic-comedy Karachi Se Lahore in 2015.

Earlier, Ayesha Omar collaborated with Shoaib Malik for a bold photoshoot, which is stated to be the alleged reason for the cricketer's relationship hitting rock bottom with Sania. 

Who is Ayesha Siddiqui, ex-wife of Shoaib Malik?

Before getting married to Sania, Shoaib's past life became a major point of discussion, as a woman named Ayesha Siddiqui claimed that the Pakistani cricketer was already married to her, and a huge controversy followed. Ayesha, who is also known by the name of Maha Siddiqui was a teacher by profession and hailed from Hyderabad. It was alleged that Shoaib was going to marry Sania, without getting divorced from his first wife.

Ayesha is said to have filed a police complaint against Shoaib for cheating on her, after revealing that they got married in 2002 and also shared video clips of their marriage as proof.

She stated that she only wanted to get divorced from Shoaib Malik, and it was later revealed that she even got INR 15 crore (approx. $18.04 million) alimony from the Pakistani cricketer. Initially, Shoaib Malik kept denying the marriage, he later got divorced from his first wife Ayesha Siddique in April 2010, a few days before his marriage to Sania. 

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Sania and Shoaib were together recently during the birthday of their son Izhaan. Malik travelled from Pakistan to Dubai to be with their son on his special day and shared pictures from the birthday celebration. Back then there were no rumours of divorce between the couple. 

However, in November 2022, the OTT platform Urduflix announced on its official Instagram handle that Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik are coming up with their show named The Mirza Malik Show. Hence, it remains unclear whether all this was a marketing gimmick.

Another interesting detail that is making the fans concerned is Shoaib's recent appearance on the Pakistani Cricket show named, 'Ask the Pavillion' where he was asked about the location of Sania's tennis academies. To this, he replied by saying that he doesn't know much about the academies. Shoaib's response surprised Waqar Younis and he jokingly said, "What sort of husband you are?" 

(With inputs from agencies)