Aesha Mukherjee announces divorce from Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan with Aesha Mukherjee

India cricketer Shikhar Dhawan and Aesha Mukherjee have parted ways after nine years of marriage.

Announcing her divorce, Aesha wrote in a lengthy Instagram post: "I THOUGHT DIVORCE WAS A DIRTY WORD UNTIL I BECAME A 2 TIME DIVORCEE. Funny how words can have such powerful meanings and associations. I experienced this first hand as a divorcee. The first time I went through a divorce I was soooooooo fu@kn scared. I felt like I had failed and I was doing something so wrong at that time. I felt as if I had let everyone down and even felt selfish. I felt that I was letting my parents down, I felt that I was letting my children down and even to some extent I felt as if I was letting God down. Divorce was such a dirty word."

Aesha explained that going through a divorce for the second time is terrifying. "So now imagine, I have to go through it a second time. Woooahhhhhh. That is terrifying. Being divorced once before already, felt like I had more at stake the second time round. I had more to prove. So when my second marriage broke down it was really scary."