Rumours fly thick as Pak groom lands in city

HYDERABAD: On a day when Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik’s flying visit to Hyderabad sparked off various rumours on the high profile marriage, sources close to the Mirza family said that the marriage will be held as per schedule on April 15 in Hyderabad. Sources also said that prominent Hyderabadi families are mediating between the Mirza and Siddiqui families to arrive at a compromise for a smooth conduct of the marriage.

Sources said that efforts to broker peace had been on since Friday night and that well-known Muslim families in the city were entrusted with the task of putting an end to the controversy. It was learnt that a senior government official also visited the Siddiqui family to figure out a compromise formula.

However, it was the sudden appearance of Shoaib Malik in the city on Saturday which had the print and the electric media lay siege to the Jubilee Hills residence of tennis ace Sania Mirza. After a longish wait, the only evidence of some activity inside the house was a glimpse of the couple to be and her mother on the terrace talking among themselves and on the cell phone. Sania Mirza had on late Friday night tweeted that she hadn’t slept all night and it was not just because of pre-wedding jitters.

Dozens of relatives entered the Mirza house through the day but no announcement to the media on the impending marriage was forthcoming. Reports from across the border declaring that the wedding venue was being shifted to neutral ground — Dubai — only added to the many other rumours including that the couple would hurriedly tie the knot on Saturday itself. However, by the night it was clear that there is still time for the nikah and the Mirza family was seen bonding with the dulha-to-be. Family sources confirmed that the wedding was on as per schedule. Expected to be a grand affair, the wedding will be held at Taj Krishna in Banjara Hills, where Sania Mirza had incidentally got engaged to Sohrab Mirza last year. She called off the engagement earlier this year.

Shoaib’s brother-in-law Imran Zafar had told the media in Lahore on Friday that Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and Indian cricketers Virendra Sehwag and Ashish Nehra would be among the galaxy of VVIP invitees from the Indian side. But he hastened to add that more names were in the process of being finalised.