Suspended Pakistan speedster Muhammad Asif is hoping that his marriage with Sana Hilal on Thursday will change his life and bring him luck and success.
Asif, who is one of the three Pakistani cricketers suspended by the International Cricket Council for alleged spot fixing during the Lord's Test against England, will marry Sana, a girl chosen by his parents on Thursday.
The pacer and Sana had entered into Nikah few months back but the formal marriage ceremony (Rukhsati) could not take place due to Asif's commitments with the Pakistan team.
"I had postponed the marriage because of the busy schedule of the team but now I am formally going to bring my wife home and I a confident this new phase of my life will be for the best," Asif told Geo News channel.
Asif had entered into Nikah with Sana soon after ending a long affair with actress and model Veena Malik, who has now accused him of match-fixing and claimed he has links with an Indian bookmaker.
Asif said he had invited fellow cricketers, many former greats and leading personalities for his Valima on Friday in Lahore. The pace bowler has been dogged by controversies since the last four years.
In 2006 he was suspended for testing positive in a dope test before the Champions Trophy in India. In 2007 he got into a brawl with fellow pacer Shoaib Akhtar in South Africa and in 2008 he was banned for one year for again failing a dope test in the Indian Premier League.
In 2008, he also spent 19-days in detention in Dubai while returning from India for possession of small quantity of marijuana but was released without charge.
"He has had a hectic lifestyle and hopefully he will now settle down in life after his marriage," Zahid, his close friend, said. Zahid played a big role in mediating a settlement between Asif and Veena Malik last year after the latter filed a case for recovery of over 13 million rupees from the pace bowler.
