News Desk |
Pakistani cricket player Shoaib Malik and his Indian Tennis Grand Slam winner wife Sania Mirza have recently announced the impending arrival of their child. The two broke the news very recently but had been coy about it for quite some time. On Instagram it seems that Mirza was having a baby shower of sorts though she captioned it “#NOTaBabyShower” which could very well be a joke especially since “#babymirzamalik” continued to be a hashtag used by her and her friends.
Malik and Mirza recently opened up about their child and stated that they did not plan to have him be a Pakistani or Indian national. What this means exactly isn’t known yet but most likely it hints that the child will be raised in UAE. Speaking about the baby’s name, Sania stated in an interview ““I will tell you a secret. My husband and I have spoken about it and we have decided that whenever we have a child, the child will have Mirza-Malik as a surname and not just Malik.
Read more: Sania Mirza signals about improving Pak-India relations
So that’s where we stand as a family. He actually wants a daughter.” This news shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has been keeping tabs on the duo since Mirza decided to stay with her own name after marrying her husband. ““I have not changed my surname (post marriage). My name is still Sania Mirza and it will remain that way. The family name is going to go forward,” she has said.
Shoaib Malik too shed light on some of this spectacular baby news stating, “I have taken permission from the team management to remain with my wife at the time of birth,” to the media at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore. He asked fans to pray for their child and shared his excitement. Earlier on, the couple released a press release regarding the news:
““We are obviously very excited to enter this new phase of our lives. We have been thinking about it for a while and look forward to our journey as parents.” Sania Mirza stated. Malik also pitched in saying “”We have been thinking about it for a while and look forward to our journey as parents InshaAllah .. when we found out we were ecstatic, needless to say, our families are overwhelmed and super happy and we wanted to share this amazing news with all our fans and well-wishers,”.
Read more: Sania Mirza makes trip to Lahore to visit family
Malik and Mirza both also tweeted a cartoon picture of three jerseys with Mirza, Malik and Mirza-Mirza emblazoned on it respectively teasing the arrival of their child. While Shoaib Malik has been busy with cricket both domestic and international, Mirza’s leg and then wrist injury has impeded her return to the tennis field. She had previously hoped to return for the French Open in May.
Malik was one of the 33 players who were recently awarded the Pakistan Cricket Board’s central contract for the 2018-19 season. That means it’s likely that we will be seeing more of him even as his personal life gets more exciting.