Stroke of love

Smridhi Chawla

While Bengaluru-based batsman Mayank Aggarwal (27) has been bought by the Kings XI Punjab for IPL 2018, he has been auctioned for life to Aashita Sood (26), a practicing lawyer and the daughter of Director General of Police, Karnataka. 

 If you ask Mayank Aggarwal to choose between cricket and his lady love, he will be flustered. So, we spare the new entrant to Kings XI Punjab this burden and simply ask him about his beloved. 

“Aashita’s simplicity keeps me grounded. She has always been supportive in my highs and lows. She has been the pillar of my strength,” he says.

They first met at a family event in 2010 and hit it off instantly, making it a fairytale romance. “When I met Aashita, I knew she had to be the one,” Mayank says.

The two have been dating for seven years. They were engaged recently after Mayank, in keeping with the ‘sanctity’ of the moment, surprised her when he proposed marriage.

“I was in London and Mayank’s phone was not reachable for a few days towards December-end last year. When I checked with him, he said he was having trouble with his handset. He was actually travelling to London to surprise me. The moment of proposal was breathtaking. He proposed to me at the London Eye,” says Aashita, who has just finished her master’s in intellectual property law in London. Mayank and Aashita are planning to exchange wedding vows by the end of the year in their home town Bengaluru.

“I could have never found a better life partner,” Mayank says.