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29 March 2024

Sania says will be cheering for India not Shoaib

Sania Mirza of India poses for photographers before the player party during the China Open at the Intercontinental Beijing Beichen hotel on October 1, 2012 in Beijing, China. (GETTY)

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By Staff

Indian tennis star Sania Mirza will not be cheering for her husband Shoaib Malik when India hosts Pakistan in the bilateral series which begins with a Twenty20 international in Bangalore on Tuesday.

"When India and Pakistan are playing either a hockey match or a kabaddi match, we always support our respective countries. It is not as dramatic as everyone thinks it is. I support my husband. Supporting him comes naturally to me just as supporting my country comes naturally," said Sania who married Shoaib in April of 2010.

Speaking to NDTV, Sania said that cricket is all about passionately following your team and that she is no different.

"I have been asked this since people got to know me and Shoaib are together. I mean we are married. It is not child's play. We respect each other and the teams we support," she said.

Shoaib is part of Pakistan of the T20 squad but has been omitted from the one-day squad in the current series.

On the resumption of bilateral series between the two rivals after a gap of five years following the Mumbai terror attacks, Sania said: "I remember watching an India vs Pakistan in 2007 at the stadium. Shoaib, who was not my husband then, was the skipper. I remember the match because Sachin Tendulkar hit 97 runs."