Sania captioned the cartoon image with the hashtag, ‘Baby Mirza Malik’
Indian tennis champ and Pakistani cricketing star, Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik are expecting their first child together.
31-year-old Mirza made the happy announcement on her social media where she posted a fun locker room picture hinting at the surprise news.
Displaying three lockers in total, two of the outer lockers sees two t-shirts with the names of Mirza and Malik respectively. The centre locker shows an adorable baby grow with the name ‘Mirza-Malik’ underneath.
Sania captioned the cartoon image with the hashtag, ‘Baby Mirza Malik’.
Sania’s father Imran later confirmed the news, telling PTI: “Yes, it’s true.” The coach added that the baby is expected in October 2018.
Sania and Shoaib married in 2010 and recently celebrated their eighth anniversary together on 12th April.
Sania also appeared at the Goa Fest 2018 earlier in April. Interestingly, the six-time Grand Slam champion hinted at the possibility of a child very soon, when she said:
“Today 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.”
“So that’s where we stand as a family including my husband. He actually wants a daughter.”
Fans from both sides of the border are delighted with the news, although it could mean that Sania will be out of action for a short period.
The Indian tennis player is already courtside owing to a knee injury which has kept her from playing since October 2017. She was last seen playing professionally at the China Open in Beijing in September.
Mirza had mentioned at the beginning of 2018 that she would return to the game at the French Open which will take place between May and June.
Notably, tennis superstar Serena Williams won the 2017 Australian Open when she was a few weeks pregnant and returned five months after giving birth.
It will be interesting to see what Sania will decide to do.
Social media has been rife with well-wishers. Some users are even speculating whether Baby Mirza-Malik will be a fan of cricket or tennis!
I love that Shoaib Malik and Sania Mirza's baby will take both their names.
— Alizay. (@alizayhere) April 23, 2018
Just saw Shoaib and Sania’s #BabyMirzaMalik post and I genuinely feel so happy. My hearttttt?????????
— laiba (@Laibanwer) April 23, 2018
Meanwhile, both Shoaib and Sania will be looking forward to the sweet bundle of joy arriving later in the year.
DESIblitz wishes Sania and Shoaib a huge congratulations!
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