Pakistan's former captain and paceman Wasim Akram on Wednesday announced that he had married his Australian girlfriend, Shaniera Thompson, saying he has started a new life on a happy note, says a report in The Times Of India.
"I married Shaniera in Lahore last week in a simple ceremony and this is the start of a new life for me, my wife and for my kids," said Wasim, whose first wife Huma died in 2009 after multiple organ failure.
Wasim proposed to the 30-year-old former public relations consultant on bended knee last month and they married on August 12. Thompson came to Karachi earlier this month before going to Lahore to see Wasim's ailing father. There the marriage was solemnized in the presence of immediate family and a few close friends.
According to a report in Deccan Chronicle, Shaniera Thompson will settle in Pakistan and has converted to Islam. The pair met in Melbourne in 2011 and Akram said he was happy he had found love.
“I never thought I would get married again, but I am lucky and very happy to find love again”, he had then said, adding, “It just goes to show that life can give you a second chance”.
Until some months back, media speculated Akram might marry Bollywood star Susmita Sen but both of them denied it saying they are “good friends”.
Akram played 104 Tests and 356 one-day internationals for Pakistan in a career lasting from 1984 to 2003. He was regarded as one of the best leftarm fast bowlers to have played the game and remains a major celebrity in Pakistan. He was the player of the tournament in Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup win.
