Shikhar Dhawan, Ayesha Mukherjee part ways after 8 years of marriage

India cricketer Shikhar Dhawan and his wife Ayesha Mukherjee have parted ways after eight years of marriage. The confirmation was made by Ayesha, 46, who changed her name to Aesha Mukherjee from Ayesha Dhawan, and posted about it on Instagram.

"I thought divorce was a dirty word until I became a 2 time divorcee," she wrote.

Ayesha, a kickboxer by profession, married Shikhar in 2012 and the two have a kid named Zoravar. Ayesha was only eight years old when she moved from Kolkata to Australia. Previously, Ayesha was married to an Australian businessman, with whom she has two children. Aliyah (born in the year 2000) and Rhea, born in 2005. 

Dhawan on Wednesday took to Instagram and shared a cryptic message in Hindi on Instagram which seemingly pointed towards his separation: "Kisi bhi mukaam ko paane ke liye poora jaan, samjh, dil lagta hai. Pyaar hona chaiyeh apna kaam ke towards tabhi barkhat aati hain aur enjoyment bhi. Keep on working hard to turn your dreams into reality."

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This loosely translates to: "To achieve anything in life, you need to put in your entire strength, understanding and heart. Love should be towards your work; only then do you achieve heights and enjoyment."

Meanwhile, Dhawan would be hoping for his selection in India's 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup which starts in the UAE and Oman from October 17. He was last seen captaining India in the tour of Sri Lanka in July, where the team played three T20Is and three ODIs. He scored 214 runs with a half-century and a best of an unbeaten 86.

Prior to that, Dhawan had burned up the charts in IPL 2020, scoring 618 runs with two centuries – which came in back-to-back matches. Dhawan continued IPL 2021 from where he had left off last year and already has scored 380 runs from eight matches at an impressive average of 54.28. With such numbers, it would be hard for the selectors to ignore him for the ICC global event.