Breaking barriers: 10 international sports marriages involving Indians

Whether it be a meeting of two different athletes or partnering with each other to play in the same tournament, sports definitely has a love language of its own. Over time, several foreign and Indian athletes have met their better halves while on tour or just through an introduction through a mutual acquaintance. Cricket, tennis and golf are a few of the common sports which have been frequent hotbeds of matchmaking for foreign athletes in India and vice versa. We take a look at a few of these couples.

Sania Mirza (Tennis) with Shoaib Malik (Cricket) Pakistan

The two got married in 2010 after meeting first at Hobart. They got married after 5 months of courtship in a ceremony in Hyderabad followed by a reception in Lahore. Despite their fabulous love story, the couple has often been at the receiving end of jibes due to their respective Indian and Pakistani nationalities.

Muttiah Muralitharan (Cricket) Sri Lanka with Madhimalar Ramamurthy

Muttiah Muralitharan needs no introduction to Indian sports fans. His spin bowling for the legendary Sri Lankan team of the 2000s and Mumbai Indians is forever a talking point. He got married to his wife in 2005 after meeting her post an introduction by popular Tamil Actor Vagai Chandrashekar. This led to courtship and subsequent marriage.

Shaun Tait (Cricket) Australia with Mashooma Singh

Shaun Tair is the first Australian cricketer to marry an Indian after he courted and married Bombay based model. Mashooma Singh who has a diploma in IT Engineering met Shaun Tait at an IPL afterparty in 2010. They got married in 2015 after being engaged to each other in 2013 in Paris.

Mohsin Khan (Cricket) Pakistan with Reena Roy

He played over 48 Test matches and 75 One Day Internationals between 1977 and 1986 for Pakistan. Reena Roy was a well-known actor in India throughout the 80s and married Mohsin in Karachi. It was a huge deal at that time and subsequently, the couple separated with Mohsin getting custody of their daughter.

Mike Brearly (Cricket) England and Mana Sarabhai

One of England's most famous cricket captains met his wife during England's tour of India in 1976/77. Mana Sarabhai was the daughter of a Gujarati businessman named Gautam Sarabhai. Mike even took Gujarati lessons for over 4 years at the request of his father in law from noted poet Saroop Dhruv. The family is settled in England now.

Manpreet Singh (Hockey) and Illi Saddique Malaysia

Illi Saddique is originally from Malaysia while her parents are of Pakistani origin. She met the famous Indian hockey captain while he was in Malaysia for a tournament and eventually married him in 2020 after the engagement in 2014. They both live in Punjab together.

Glenn Turner (Cricket) New Zealand and Sukhinder Kaur

Sukhinder Kaur Gill married famous New Zealand cricketer Glenn Turner back in july 1973. Originally from Ludhiana, Punjab, shetravelled to the US to complete her higher education and thereafter became a naturalised New Zealand citizen. She has done tremendous work for the community there and has been awarded the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal.

Divij Sharan (Tennis) and Samantha Murray (Tennis) England

The New Delhi born tennis player is married to fellow tennis player Samantha Murray of England. The duo got married in 2019 and held receptions in England and India. The duo even played together at the Wimbeldon mixed doubles event in 2021 where they exited in the 2nd round.

Nonita Lall (Golf) and Faisal Qureshi (Golf) Pakistan

Famous Indian golfer Nonita Lall and Faisal Qureshi were destined to meet on a golf course and get married. The duo got married in 1992 after meeting at a golf course in Islamabad and have been settled in Delhi for a long time.

Sheetal Mallar and Andrew Moses (Tennis) Italy

Andrew Moses is an Italian tennis player who has played at the Wimbeldon and met Sheetal Mallar through mahesh Bhupati. Incidentally Moses was partnering Mahesh Bhupati at that point in his career as well.