Cricketer Yuzvendra Chahal and YouTuber-actor Dhanashree Verma finalised their divorce earlier this year, bringing an end to their five-year marriage. While Chahal has spoken about the split in several interviews, Verma had remained silent until now. In a candid conversation, she described the court proceedings as “emotional” and expressed her shock over Chahal’s much-discussed “T-shirt stunt” outside the court, where he was spotted wearing a tee that read: “Be your own sugar daddy.”
Speaking to Humans of Bombay, Dhanashree recalled, “I genuinely feel that the day it actually happened, it was very emotional for me and my family. I still remember when I was standing there and the verdict was about to be given, even though you are so mentally prepared that it is going to happen, it was still so emotional. I literally started howling and crying in front of everybody. I cannot even express what I was feeling at that point of time.”
She added that she was unaware of Chahal’s T-shirt until later. “He walked out first, that whole thing happened with the T-shirt and media, and I wasn’t aware about it because I was still inside. I got out from the back gate because I was not liking that. It was just very sad, you don’t want cameras all over your face. Humko kuch nahi bataana tha, I was wearing normal t-shirt and jeans. I sat in the car, my best friend was there with me, and we were still trying to grasp our breath. It was that shaky moment, especially when you know people will blame you only.”
Dhanashree admitted she had anticipated being blamed even before the divorce was finalized. “Even before I knew about this T-shirt stunt, we were aware that people were going to hold me responsible for the divorce. In your head, you just want to move forward once it’s over. Until I took out my phone and saw it, I didn’t want to believe it. Ye sach mein isne aisa kiya? In that one second, I was like—it’s over. Why should I cry? Somewhere I felt bad, questioning myself—main kyu ro rahi thi? For this? That was the motivation I needed: I just had to laugh it out. In fact, that helped me. Everybody saw me in the courthouse… the way I was howling and crying. In moments like that, everything just flashes through your mind.”
When told that Chahal’s podcast remarks sounded like a final message to her, she quipped, “Arre bhai, WhatsApp kardeta!”
Chahal, meanwhile, had earlier defended his choice of T-shirt in a podcast with Raj Shamani. “I just felt like I wanted to give one message and I did that. Because something had happened from the other end… I didn’t want to do it earlier but then something happened and I decided, now everyone can go to hell, I will do what I want,” he said.
The couple filed for divorce in February 2024, with proceedings concluding this year. Following the split, Dhanashree faced intense trolling online, including allegations of infidelity, while Chahal has since been linked to content creator RJ Mahvash.