Indian cricket star Sachin Tendulkar and his wife Anjali have been together for almost 30 years. Many people know about their strong relationship and how Anjali supported Sachin during his cricket career, but not much is known about their personal lives. Recently, Anjali’s mother, Annabelle Mehta, shared some details about when Sachin, who was just 19 at the time, asked for her daughter’s hand in marriage. She also talked about how the news of their upcoming marriage was kept private.
Anjali’s family relocated from England to India in the 1950s. Annabelle has shared her memories of those times in her new book, ‘My Passage to India’, which was published by Times of India. In the book, she describes the day Sachin visited her to ask for Anjali’s hand in marriage.
“By that time, I had realized that Sachin was the most talented player in Indian cricket, but I was worried he might start living a wild lifestyle like some of his fellow cricketers. In the 1990s, Sachin was as famous as David Beckham was in England. I wanted to talk to him directly and ask how he felt about my daughter,” Annabelle recalls.
Sachin’s answer surprised Annabelle.
“He said, ‘We want to get married.’ I was shocked. I always thought Anjali would marry a tall, dark, and handsome man. Sachin was dark and handsome, but he was only 19 and still a boy. He was also quite short, not much taller than Anjali, who is 5 feet 5 and a half inches. Sachin’s curly hair might have added an inch to his height, but not enough for Anjali to wear the high heels she loved,” Annabelle continues.
Even though Sachin announced his plan to marry Anjali when he was 19, he didn’t get married until 1995, when he was 22 years old.
