New Delhi: Indian cricketer Smriti Mandhana took to Instagram Sunday to confirm that her wedding with music composer Palash Muchhal has been called off, ending weeks of speculation surrounding the planned nuptials. It’s time to move forward, she wrote.
Their pre-wedding celebrations had gone viral on social media, and a wedding date was initially set for 23 November this year. However, the wedding was postponed after Mandhana’s father took ill and had to be hospitalised. Muchhal too was hospitalised briefly due to stress-related issues.
Although family members on both sides initially maintained that the wedding had only been postponed, the subsequent removal of wedding-related posts from Mandhana’s social media accounts, as well as her first public appearance without her engagement ring, had fuelled speculation of a deeper rift.
“Over the past few weeks there has been plenty of speculation around my life and I feel it is important for me to speak out at this time. I am a very private person and I would like to keep it that way but I need to clarify that the wedding is called off,” the cricketer wrote on Instagram.
She emphasised that her commitment to cricket, saying: “I believe there is a higher purpose driving us all and for me that has always been representing my country at the highest level. I hope to continue to play and win trophies for India for as long as possible and that is where my focus will forever be.”
Mandhana further requested the privacy of both families be respected and they be allowed “the space to process and move on at our own pace”.
Muchhal too wrote a note on Instagram that said, “I have decided to move on in my life and step back from my personal relationship. It’s been very difficult for me to see people react so easily on baseless rumours about something which has been most sacred to me. It’s the most difficult phase of my life and I will deal with it gracefully holding on to my beliefs. I truly hope we, as a society, learn to pause before judging someone based on unverified gossip, whose sources are never identified. Our words can wound in ways we may never understand.”
He added that his team would take legal action “against those spreading false and defamatory content”.