Team India vice-captain and ace batter KL Rahul has been granted leave by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as the 30-year-old Indian cricketer is planning to tie the knot with long-time girlfriend and Bollywood actor Athiya Shetty. Sports Tak has learned that Rahul and Athiya are set to get married in the first week of January in a private ceremony with only close friends and family. The Indian cricket board has excused Rahul from the Sri Lankan series.
The romance between Indian cricketers and Bollywood divas has dominated a particular section of news and fascinated a large section of the country's populous for decades now. While the relationship between superstar Virat Kohli and extremely versatile Anushka Sharma a.k.a 'Virushka' might be the most high-profile couple involving cricket and Bollywood, there have been numerous other pairings as well.
One such couple that has grabbed enormous attention is Team India's stylish opening batter KL Rahul and Athiya Shetty, daughter of veteran actor Suniel Shetty. The duo have often been spotted together several times if you scrawl through their Instagram handles, you will stumble upon multiple mushy photos.
Rahul and Athiya first met three years ago in 2019 through one of their mutual friends and it is believed that the duo hit it off after the first meeting. For a period rumours were rife about the relationship between the two high-profile stars as they evaded the public eye and questions. But with so much scrutiny and in today's technology-driven world, it sometimes becomes hard to keep things private.
The rumours about Rahul and Athiya only gathered momentum when they posted a picture together on their social media handles in December 2019. Reportedly, the duo celebrated New Year 2020 together in Thailand. From thereon, they kept sharing mushy pictures alongside each other and were also spotted enjoying vacations together.
The posts and pictures kept on piling but the duo remained tight-lipped on their relationship status. As time passed, Athiya started traveling with Rahul on tours.
On Athiya's 29th birthday in 2021, Rahul made his relationship with the Bollywood beauty 'insta-official'. After going official with their relationship, the love birds' first public appearance came at the ‘Tadap’ screening in December 2021 when they were seen walking hand in hand on the red carpet and even posed for a picture alongside Suniel Shetty.
