Shoaib Malik marries Pakistani actress Sana Javed amid rumours of separation with Sania Mirza

Veteran Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik has married Pakistani actor Sana Javed amid rumours of his divorce from Indian tennis legend Sania Mirza.

Malik shared the update on Saturday through a social media post on X, formerly known as Twitter. The post comprises pictures from their wedding ceremony with the caption: "And we created you in pairs."

Rumours of Malik dating Javed had been doing the rounds for quite a while, before the ex-Pakistan captain fuelled speculations further when he wished the actress on her birthday last year: "Happy Birthday Buddy," along with a picture of the two.

The 41-year-old had also come out in support of Javed when the Pyaare Afzal actress was slammed for an alleged rude behaviour towards juniors and make-up artists on the set. "I have known Sana Javed for quite some time now and have had the opportunity to work with her multiple times, from my personal experience I can only say that she has always been kind & courteous towards me & the people around us," Malik had tweeted back in March 2022.

Malik's wedding post came as a big surprise on either side of the border amid rumours of a divorce with Mirza. The two had gotten married in Hyderabad back in 2010 in a traditional Muslim ceremony, and later had a Walima ceremony in Sialkot, Pakistan. Malik and Mirza also have a son, Izhaan, born in 2018.

While there is no knowledge as to how the cracks in their relationship developed, it is believed to have happened sometime around the first half of 2021.

Going by their social media presence, Sania and Shoaib would remain active on Instagram, regularly posting pictures and stories of the two of them together - roaming the world and posing on the beaches of Dubai with their kid.

However, their movement on social media was limited over time. Last year, reports of Sania and Shoaib coming together for a TV show emerged, which eventually materialised as Spotify presented The Mirza Malik show, where the two of them hosted a bunch of celebrities over 40-minute long episodes.

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 on, appeared in several 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. 

Earlier, she tied the knot with Pakistani actor and singer-songwriter Umair Jaswal in 2020 in an intimate nikah ceremony.

Earlier on Wednesday, Sania had shared a cryptic post on her Instagram handle which reignited divorce speculations with Malik.

Her post read: 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. Not communicating is hard. Choose your hard. Life will never be easy. It will always be hard. But we can choose our hard. Pick wisely."

On record, this is also Malik's second wedding. But said having that, before getting married to Sania, Malik had reportedly married Ayesha Siddiqui, although the cricketer denied it.

During his wedding ceremony with Mirza, Malik was marred by allegations that he was already married. Ayesha, her family and her sister Maha had escalated the issue on national television.

As per Malik's own admission, the whole chapter involving Ayesha was nothing more than an incident of fraud.