Zeenews Bureau
Hyderabad: As events around the wedding between Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik and tennis ace Sania Mirza get murkier by the day, the Indian sports icon`s family was `keeping all options open`, including postponing the wedding, indicated a close family friend.
Andhra Cricket Association`s former secretary V Chamundeswaranath, a close friend of Sania`s family, told reporters late Monday that ‘while no decision was taken to postpone the marriage, the family was keeping all options open’.
Chamundeswaranath has been regularly visiting the Mirza family ever since Shoaib arrived here Friday for his wedding scheduled for April 15.
With Ayesha Siddiqui, who claims to be Shoaib`s first wife, launching a legal fight to prove her claim and the police not ruling out the Pakistani cricketer`s arrest, the two families are seriously considering delaying the marriage, it is learnt.
Police Monday grilled Shoaib at Sania`s house after booking a criminal case of cheating, harassment and criminal intimidation against him following a complaint by Ayesha, who is also a resident of this city.
Though both Shoaib and Sania, during their interaction with the media Monday, asserted that the marriage would take place April 15, the family is visibly worried over the impact the controversy may have on the celebrations.
Sania was tense and irritated while answering media queries Monday. “Of course I am upset but we are happy that we are together and we are happy that we are getting married, Inshallah. We want to remember this as a happy occasion in our life and not as bad thing or negative thing,” she said.
Police officers, who took away Shoaib`s passport, said he may be questioned again and may also be arrested on the basis of evidence they may come across during the course of investigations.
Shoaib`s brother-in-law in Delhi
Meanwhile, Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik’s brother-in-law Imran Malik reached the capital to meet the cricketer’s lawyer Ramesh Gupta.
Talking to reporters, Malik said that Ayesha should come out in the open.
It is believed that Malik has come to the capital to discuss future legal strategies with the lawyer.
Ayesha submits clothes to police
In a new twist to the ‘first marriage’ controversy of Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik, Ayesha Siddiqui today reportedly submitted some clothes to the police to prove that the Pakistani cricketer married her.
(With agency inputs)
First Published: Tuesday, April 06, 2010, 17:23