MS Dhoni to Sourav Ganguly: 5 Indian cricketers who married their childhood sweetheart

MS Dhoni has been married to Sakshi since 2010, as the two have a daughter, Ziva, born in 2015. Meanwhile, Sourav Ganguly has been married to Dona since 1997, while both have a daughter Sana. As Dhoni continues to lead Chennai Super Kings, Ganguly heads the BCCI.

Ayush Gupta

Kolkata, First Published Oct 27, 2020, 4:10 PM IST | Last Updated Oct 27, 2020, 4:10 PM IST

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Indian cricketers have a unique story when it comes to their personal life. Furthermore, it is their love life that has always fascinated the fans.

While Indian cricketers, who are almost celebrities in the country, tend to link up with famous women, who happen to be models or Bollywood actresses, some like to keep it simple. Some have even had arranged marriages. Nonetheless, some even marry their childhood sweethearts, as we take a look at five such Indian cricketers.

Sourav Ganguly: The former Indian skipper was an instant hit in the Indian side ever since his international debut. While his career graph kept escalating, his personal life too got to a high. It was in 1997 when he got hitched to Dona. She happened to be his childhood friend. However, since their families were sworn rivals, they kept their friendship a secret. While there was an uproar between their families after the news surfaced, they later reconciled. The two have a daughter, Sana, together.

Ajinkya Rahane: Rahane's story turns out to be a novel one. He had an arranged marriage with his wife, Radhika. Although the two were friends during their childhood days, they were too shy to express anything to each other, especially Rahane, who was a reserved kind of a person. Nonetheless, his father pushed him to do the right thing, as the two are happily married, since 2014.

Suresh Raina: Raina's, too, was an arranged marriage. While he was in Australia, his mother called up to say that his wedding had been fixed with Priyanka. As he talked to Priyanka for the first time, he happened to know that the two were old neighbourhood friends in Uttar Pradesh, before Priyanka's family had moved to Punjab. They had since lost touch, and Raina had utterly forgotten about her. Nonetheless, the couple is having a great time post marriage, as they have a daughter and a son together.

Virender Sehwag: The swashbuckling Indian opener was never linked with many women, despite his cricketing fame. Nonetheless, it was in 2004 when he got hitched to Aarti. As for who she was, it was revealed that the two were not only childhood friends, but she belongs to Sehwag's relative (paternal aunt). While there was hostility regarding their relationship, love prevailed, as they are happily married and have two sons together.

MS Dhoni: The legendary former Indian skipper was linked with many women in Bollywood, besides being in a relationship with a girl named Priyanka. However, following her death in a fatal road accident, Dhoni bumped into Sakshi at a Kolkata hotel, during one of his stints with Team India. Incidentally, the two turned out to be childhood friends from Ranchi, who studied in the same school. However, since Sakshi had moved to Dehradun with her family at an early age, the two lost touch. Nonetheless, fate reunited them, as the two got hitched in 2010 and have a five-year-old daughter, Ziva.