Pakistan's former cricket captain Shoaib Malik has pleaded with the media to stop the hype surrounding his marriage with Indian tennis star Sania Mirza and allow them to live like a normal couple.

Shoaib pleads with media to stop hype over his marriage

Malik and Sania appeared together for the first time on a Pakistani channel tonight and the former said he was fed up with the hype over his marriage.

"I am pleased to know that people are happy with our marriage but I think now it is time to stop this hype and let us live like a normal couple. I would request the media to leave alone both families," he said.

Malik said since he and Sania had reached Pakistan he had spent most of his time being her personal bodyguard rather then her husband.

u00a0"Two people from different countries got married and it should only be treated as a marriage nothing more," Malik told Ary News. Malik said while he was happy at the celebrations in Pakistan over his marriage but he was now tired of playing bodyguard to his wife in Pakistan.

u00a0"I would ask the media to reduce the hype let our families enjoy this occasion as any family would celebrate a marriage. Because of all this hype I couldn't even meet with my friends and relatives properly in the reception in Sialkot, it was a mad rush," he said.

Malik, who is presently serving a 12-month ban by the Pakistan Cricket Board, said while the media created the hype over the marriage it was not shy of playing up negative stories about them which was disappointing.

"I can only laugh at stories in the media that invitation cards for our wedding reception were sold," he added.

"This thing about our wedding cards being sold it is laughable. Please don't turn out wedding cards into credit cards," Malik said.

Sania Mirza said she was surprised at all the hype in the media surrounding their marriage.

"It is not like ours is a great big love story. Strangely we were introduced by a common friend from the media then I met him in Hobart and our families also met and we decided to get married," she said.

Since reaching Pakistan, there have been reports that Sania and her family have not been very pleased with the boisterous reception they have got and the unruliness witnessed whenever they have gone out or at the reception in Sialkot on Sunday night.

So much so that Sania's father Imran Mirza is said to be personally supervising all security arrangements for the Valima reception in Lahore tomorrow.

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