No more a bachelor: 39-year-old Shoaib Akhtar secretly ties knot with teenager

Karachi: Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar tied the knot with a 17-year old girl from Haripur in the Khyber Pakhtunkhawa province.

Reports say that 39-year-old Akhtar married Rubab on Wednesday in a quiet nikah ceremony in Haripur.

"The haq mahar has been kept at half a million rupees and Akhtar's parents attended the simple nikah ceremony," reports said.

Earlier, Akhtar had denied reports that he was getting married to a girl chosen by his parents.

Reportedly, Akhtar's family met Mushtaq Khan, a businessman from Haripur while on Hajj in 2013. They asked Khan's wife for help in finding a suitable match for the retired cricketer.

Both families reportedly met several times upon their return to Pakistan before finalising a match between Akhtar and Rubab, aged 17. Rubab has little interest in cricket and has three older brothers and a younger sister.

This is what he tweeted earlier denying marriage reports:

“Wishes are always welcome BUT NOT for some crap rumour...My journalist friends, I expect sensible reporting and not rumour spreading.Thanks!”

“Have got many messages from my friends in the media across the world.Following is my statement on reports of my marriage”

“I would like to confirm that I'm not getting married to 17-year-old girl,there is absolutely no truth in the story being reported”

“If not me, atleast respect the girl! Totally False”

Read: ‘If not me, respect the girl’ tweets an angry Shoaib Akhtar denying marriage reports