Many girls dream of a Bollywood-esque love story or a love-at-first-sight moment straight out of a romance novel. However, Marshneil Gavaskar made these dreams come true when she married her favourite cricketer, Sunil Gavaskar. She went and asked him for an autograph, and he gave her his heart. This moment is what every fan fiction novel is made out of. As Sunil Gavasar celebrates his 76th birthday today, on July 10, 2025, here’s everything about his love story with wife, Marshneil.
Sunil Gavaskar and Marshneil’s first meeting
Sunil Gavaskar and Marshneil came from very different backgrounds. The cricketer was born and brought up in a Marathi-speaking family in Mumbai. Meanwhile, Marshneil was from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh and is the daughter of a prominent industrialist of the city. Like every other Indian, she also keenly watched cricket and would go to stadiums to watch the game.
In 1973, the Indian cricket team was in Delhi, playing a match. Marshneil was also in Delhi for her studies. She and her friends had gone to the stadium to watch the match from the stands. It was during lunchtime when the group of friends got a chance to get autographs from the Indian cricket team, of which Sunil Gavaskar was a part.
Sunil Gavaskar fell in love at first sight
Marshneil and her friends were getting autographs from all the players. However, Sunil was standing a bit away from the crowd. However, it was destiny that implored Marshneil to notice the star batsman and approach him for an autograph. When she asked for Sunil’s autograph, the cricketer fell in love at first sight. From this one moment, their love story started. Just a few months later, Sunil visited Marshneil in Kanpur and proposed to her. Marshneil said ‘yes’ and then went from being Sunil Gavaskar’s fan to his wife.
Rumours of Sunil Gavaskar and Marshneil were floating around
As a celebrity sportsman, Sunil Gavaskar was often in the limelight, and people had taken notice of his frequent visits to Kanpur. Before the cricketer proposed to his ladylove and made it official, newspapers used to report that Sunil was visiting Kanpur to meet his girlfriend. Those reports also suggested that he would stay with his friend, Ajay Gupta. His friend had once revealed that he was unaware of the relationship between Sunil and Marshneil when the former would stay at his house in Kanpur.
However, Ajay Gupta played an important role in their love story. Sunil finally opened up about his relationship to his friend and asked him to pass on tickets to his upcoming match in Kanpur to Marshneil’s family. Ajay successfully did so and Marshneil’s family came to watch the game. And after it ended, Sunil proposed to Marshneil, and everyone was happy about their union.
Sunil Gavaskar and Marshneil tied the knot
After their fairytale-like relationship, the couple tied the knot in a dreamy wedding on September 23, 1974. Two years after their marriage, Sunil and Marshneil welcomed a baby boy in 1976 and named him Rohan Gavaskar. Following in his father’s footsteps, Rohan also became a cricketer and was part of the national cricket team. He also played in the IPL for Kolkata Knight Riders, but announced his retirement in 2012.
Sunil and Marshneil Gavaskar are now doting grandparents to Rohan’s children, Reha and Vivaan. In a Gamenight hosted by HT Brunch, the veteran cricketer had revealed that he and Marshneil used to travel a lot due to his career as a star cricketer. So, their son, Rohan, was brought up by Sunil’s in-laws. However, now that the cricketer sees Rohan and his wife spending a lot of time with their children, Sunil thinks that they will be better parents than he and Marshneil. He had stated:
“When Rohan was young, both [my wife] Marshneil and I were travelling around quite a bit, so the credit of bringing him up goes to my parents, my in-laws, my sister-in-law etc. I look at Rohan and Swati spending time with their kids and realise I didn’t spend a nano fraction of that time being a father. They are both such marvellous parents!”
More about Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar is a former captain of the Indian cricket team, representing the country from 1971 to 1987. Even though not in the field anymore, Sunil is still attached to the game through his commentaries during matches. As a fan-favourite cricketer, he is also fondly called ‘Sunny paaji‘ by the public. The veteran cricketer also wrote an autobiography called ‘Sunny Days’. Apart from being an exceptional batsman and sports commentator, Sunil has also donned the hats of writer, newspaper columnist, actor and singer.
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