“I don’t want to date you, I want to marry you” - Yuzvendra Chahal opens up on how his love story with Dhanashree Verma blossomed during lockdown

Team India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has opened up on his love story with his wife Dhanashree Verma, which blossomed during the lockdown. He revealed that since he had nothing much to do, he approached Dhanashree, who was a choreographer, for online dance classes.

One thing led to another and the cricketer ended up proposing marriage to Dhanashree, although the two did not date. Dhanashree accepted Chahal’s proposal and the two tied the knot in December 2020.

In an interview on Ranveer Allahbadia’s YouTube channel, Chahal spilled the beans on how he ended up falling in love with Dhanashree during the COVID-enforced lockdown.

“During lockdown, I had nothing to do. I wanted to learn 4-5 dance steps. I sent her a DM as I had seen her dance on reels. I messaged her, asking if she takes dance classes. Online classes started from there. In the first couple of months, we only spoke about dance.” he said.

Elaborating on how they started talking frequently, the 32-year-old added:

“One night I was sitting and I messaged her saying, ‘I want to ask you something’. I asked her how she is so happy in everything even during the lockdown. Our proper interaction started from there. I liked her vibes - she’s a self-made woman, like me. I really liked her and then I told my mom-dad about it."

On directly proposing marriage to Dhanashree despite only knowing her for a brief period, Chahal said:

“I straightaway told her, I don’t want to date you, I want to marry you. I was sure that she’s the girl.”

Chahal and Dhanashree keep sharing endearing pictures on social media and also keep posting humorous comments on each other's posts.

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“I liked the direct approach. He was straight up that, ‘mujhe shaadi karni hai’” - Dhanashree Verma

Sharing her side of the story, Dhanashree said that it was Chahal’s straightforward and decent nature that attracted her. She also admitted that she had no clue about a cricketer approaching her for dance classes as she had stopped watching the game by the time the leggie made his India debut.

She recalled:

“When I stopped watching cricket, that’s when he made his debut for India. It was good because when he messaged regarding dance classes, I had no clue who Yuzi Chahal was. He was dancing sincerely and doing his homework as well. Decency is what I loved about him. I liked the direct approach. He was straight up that, ‘mujhe shaadi karni hai’."

Dhanashree continued:

“He asked me about working continuously during lockdown. So, I told him that I have to keep myself busy, but Saturday I meet up with my friends virtually. So he was like, ‘can you give me one Saturday of yours?’ Then I told my mom and her first reaction was, ‘gaya student’. But the way he approached me was very decent, you don’t get to see that.”

Meanwhile, Chahal is preparing for the white-ball series in West Indies, featuring three ODIs and five T20Is.