photo of shoaib malik sania mirza wedding

Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik married Indian tennis star Sania Mirza at a "nikah" ceremony held at Hotel Taj Krishna in Hyderabad today, a spokesperson for the bride's family said.



"The 'nikah' is now completeed. Please pray for the couple," Rucha Nayak, the spokesperson told reporters outside the hotel.

Sania, 23, was clad in a red saree that her mother Nasima wore for her "nikah" 25 years ago, sources said. The 28-year-old former Pakistan cricket captain wore a black sherwani designed by Shantanu and Nikhil, they said.

The media was taken a bit by surprise when the two families announced this morning that the wedding would take place today. Earlier, there were reports that the ceremony would take place on April 9. Another version said the wedding would take place on the morning of the reception, scheduled for April 15.

According to the sources, the "mehandi" ceremony will take place tomorrow and the "sangeet" the day after.

The two sports stars had surprised their fans by announcing on March 29 that they were getting married. Only weeks earlier, Sania had opted out of an engagement to Sohrab Mirza, also of Hyderabad, citing reasons of incompatibility.

It was a stormy run-up to the wedding, with a Hyderabad girl, Ayesha Siddiqui, in her mid-30s, saying that Shoaib had married her in 2002.

What followed was an emotional roller-coaster ride for all concerned for a full week, with all of India and Pakistan watching spell-bound.

Shoaib denied he had married Ayesha and maintained that he, in fact, had never met her.

Ayesha insisted she had been married to him and that they had shared an intimate relationship and claimed she had evidence to back all this up. She filed a complaint with the police, and they turned up at Sania's house to question Shoaib. They also impounded his passport and mobile phone.

Ayesha claimed Shoaib had lost interest in her because she had become obese. All she wanted, she said, was a divorce so that she could move on in her life. Shoaib, of course, said there could be no divorce, because there had been no marriage in the first place.