Cricketer Yuzvendra Chahal and YouTuber-actor Dhanashree Verma ended their five year marriage earlier this year, and now, Chahal has opened up about the reasons behind his divorce in a new interview. He shared that he and Dhanashree had been facing problems for a couple of years but continued to present themselves as a couple until they knew the future of their relationship. He also shared that after his divorce, he went through a rather difficult time, and faced anxiety attacks and had suicidal thoughts.
In a chat with Raj Shamani on his YouTube channel, Chahal was asked what went wrong in his relationship, and he shared, “It had been going on for a while but we decided that we don’t want to show the world what’s happening until something gets finalised.” He shared that since he was playing for the national team and Dhanashree was also busy with her career, they couldn’t give each other enough time, which became one of the main reasons for the rift in their marriage. When asked if they were faking their relationship towards the end, Chahal nodded in agreement.
He said that while they were going through the rough patch, he took a month-long break from cricket because he felt like he was not able to focus. “I asked for a break from Vijay Hazare Trophy because I was not able to use my mind. Cricket gave me happiness, and continues to make me happy and if I am not able to do that, then something is wrong so I took a month long break,” he said.
He shared that during this phase, people started labeling him a cheater. “And I have never cheated in my life. I am not that person. You will never find anyone as loyal as me,” he said, and added that since everyone around him knew the truth, he did not feel the need to prove it to the world. He shared that when people saw him visibly relaxed after his divorce, they suspected that he was happy with his divorce, and wondered why he wasn’t crying or sharing sad notes on social media. “For a few months, I was depressed. I got anxiety attacks but only my close ones know about that. I used to have suicidal thoughts because my mind had stopped working,” he said, and added that his friends, including rumoured girlfriend RJ Mahvash helped him out through that phase. “My family, Mahvash helped me during this phase.”
He said that he wanted to finalise his divorce proceedings before the IPL season started. And when he wore the T-shirt ‘Be your own sugar daddy’, he wanted to send a message. “I just felt like I wanted to give one message and I did that,” he said and added, “Because something had happened from the other end… I didn’t want to do it earlier but then something happened and I decided, now everyone can go to hell, I will do what I want.” Yuzvendra and Dhanashree filed for divorce in February 2024 and during the divorce proceedings earlier this year, it was reported that she recieved Rs 4.75 crore in alimony.
