Cricket is often referred to as a gentleman’s game. Although, it has seen its fair share of high-profile relationships and equally publicized splits, the dominance of the game remains unparalleled in the country.
The IPL as a high-profile tournament has attracted spotlight many reasons, with the lives of cricketers and their personal relationships coming under the public radar constantly. Whenever a couple goes through a rocky phase, fans tend to take a keen interest and share their comments on it. Let’s see the top 5 IPL couples who were fan favorites due to their social media romance but parted ways and went from sweet to sour.
- Yuzvendra Chahal & Dhanashree Verma: The latest couple to join the count, their alleged separation news amidst unfollowing each other on Instagram has generated a significant buzz. Known for their PDA and childlike romance, the shocking news of their speculated divorce came as a jolt to their beloved fans.
- Hardik Pandya & Natasa Stankovic: The flamboyant all-rounder and the Serbian actress publicly announced their divorce in July 2024 after a relationship of more than four years. Their social media posts were flooded with mutual love, romance and gestures for each other. However, the couple couldn’t continue this relationship, and the cricketer is now rumored to be dating singer Jasmin Walia.
- Shikhar Dhawan & Aesha Mukerji: Shikhar Dhawan met his ex-wife Aesha Mukerji, who was 10 years older to him, via social media. While Shikhar Dhawan was an ace Indian cricketer then, Ayesha was a former kickboxer. The social media love story eventually bit the dust and led to a divorce in 2023 on grounds of cruelty.
- Mohammed Shami & Hasin Jahan: Mohammed Shami and Hasin Jahan are a former couple who have been involved in a bitter legal battle since quite some time. The couple met in 2012 during the IPL, when Hasin was a cheerleader for KKR and Shami was a member of the squad, a quintessential cricket-cheerleader romance. However, things went sour soon after, when Hasin Jahan filed for divorce on grounds of infidelity and domestic abuse.
- Dinesh Karthik & Nikita Vijay: Dinesh Karthik and Nikita Vanjara were childhood friends who got married in 2007, but went ahead with a divorce in 2012 after Nikita was slated to have an affair with his close friend, Murali Vijay, a former cricketer who played for the Chennai Superkings franchise. DK went ahead and married Indian squash player Dipika Pallikal in 2015, after a whirlwind romance and are sailing strong today.
Stories that were once an open book have now become closed chapters. These loved couples had to depart separate ways, and have shown that true love indeed is a test of time. In today’s world of digital display, a couple’s cryptic act like unfollowing each other on social media platforms has become the new norm to reveal the status of their relationship.
As they say, the reel life on social media can be delusional and misleading; after all what goes behind the ‘gram’ is always a mystery.
