Shoaib Malik, was a huge hit with the crowd, thanks to Sania Mirza
Shoaib Malik with wife Sania Mirza
Hyderabad: The Hobart Hurricanes may have lost the Champions League T20 semifinal to the Kolkata Knight Riders in Hyderabad on Thursday, but their star player, Pakistan batsman Shoaib Malik, was a huge hit with the crowd, thanks to the Sania Mirza connection.
The fans at the Uppal Stadium wildly cheered the city’s illustrious son-in-law as Shoaib smashed an unbeaten 66. “It was good to play at my in-laws’ city and score well, but I would have been very happy if we had won the game,” he says.
While Sania and her mother Nasima were away on national duty at the Asian Games in South Korea during the time Shoaib was in town, her father and sister made sure he felt at home. “It was good to see Baba (father-in-law Imran) and Anam (Sania’s sister) at the ground cheering for me. The crowd, too, was warm.
They were cheering wherever I was fielding on the boundary line. Not just in Hyderabad, I have seen the crowds in India respond positively to other Pakistani players as well,” Shoaib says.
What’s the best compliment he has got in India? “The first thing I get to hear while in India is ‘Sania’. The moment people see me, they go ‘Sania-Sania-Sania’. I find that really funny,” he chuckles before adding, “That really is the best compliment I have got here.”
“It’s great to be in Hyderabad, but I also wanted to go to Bengaluru (the venue for the Champions League final) since we have some relatives there too. Even Baba and Anam wanted to come along with me, but unfortunately my team lost in the semifinals,” he adds.
For both Sania and Shoaib, this has been a successful season career-wise. “The way Sania has been playing is remarkable. She won the Asian Games gold medal for India, which is a great achievement. I feel proud; my family feels proud of her. Even the Grand Slam (she won the US Open mixed doubles last month) was such an accomplishment,” he says.
“I wanted to go to America from the West Indies (where he won the Caribbean Premier League with the Barbados Tridents) but I had to get my visa processed to come to India for the Champions League. I was with her in the USA last year though,” he adds.
About the challenges an international sporting couple face, Shoaib says, “It is tough with both of us travelling most of the time. When you are doing well on the field, you get some satisfaction, which sort of covers up a bit with regard to your spouse not being present.
But when you don’t do well, you need someone who can cheer you up, to be around. “As a professional sportsperson I know how it feels when you don’t play well and I am not the guy who would just come up and say ‘ok, it’s enough, please stop now.’ I have always supported Sania and will support her till the time she wants to play. The best part is that she is doing great!”
( Source : dc )
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