Suniel Shetty salutes Jemimah Rodrigues' act amid Smriti Mandhana wedding controversy: 'This is what real teammates do'

Suniel Shetty salutes Jemimah Rodrigues' act amid Smriti Mandhana wedding controversy

A day after it was officially announced by Brisbane Heat that Jemimah Rodrigues will not participate further in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL), popular actor Suniel Shetty, also the father-in-law of KL Rahul, saluted the cricketer for her act of "solidarity".

Rodrigues kept her WBBL commitments aside and decided to remain in India to support her teammate and close friend Smriti Mandhana, who is currently dealing with a personal setback. The move by the batter will see her miss the final four WBBL games.

Shetty, who is an avid follower of the sport and has often been witnessed enjoying it from the stands, shared a newspaper clipping on X account regarding Rodrigues' decision. Sharing his thoughts on the same, Shetty wrote: "Bumped into this article first thing in the morning and my heart felt full. Jemimah leaving the WBBL to be by Smriti’s side. No big statements, just quiet solidarity. This is what real teammates do. Simple. Straight. Genuine," he wrote on X.

Bumped into this article first thing in the morning and my heart felt full.
Jemimah leaving the WBBL to be by Smriti’s side. No big statements, just quiet solidarity.

This is what real teammates do.
Simple. Straight. Genuine pic.twitter.com/dL04daGjSu

— Suniel Shetty (@SunielVShetty) November 28, 2025

The recent few days have been the hardest for Mandhana, India's ace batter. Mandhana, also the vice-captain of Indian women's cricket team, was set to tie the knot with music composer Palash Muchhal last Sunday (November 23).

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The wedding festivities, which were on in full throttle, came to a sudden stop after a medical emergency in the Mandhana family. It was confirmed that the marriage has been indefinitely postponed by Mandhana's manager as the cricketer's father got admitted to a hospital after "symptoms of heart attack". Next day a fresh development emerged that Muchhal, the groom to be, was also admitted to a hospital and later transferred to a better facility in Mumbai.

Both Mandhana's father, Shrinivas, and Muchhal have been discharged from the hospital. However, amidst the turn of events and as the wedding remains postponed, speculations of Mucchal cheating the cricketer have been rife on social media. Both parties have remained silenced on the rumours.