The Bombay High Court has expedited the divorce of Indian cricketer Yuzvendra Chahal (34) and actor-choreographer Dhanashree Verma (28) in light of his participation in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Justice Madhav Jamdar on Wednesday ordered a family court to decide on the case today.

The cricketer will play for Punjab Kings in IPL 2025 and the opening ceremony will take place on March 22. The court has ordered that the divorce procedure must speed up and be finalized before that.

The former couple, who has been living separately for over two and a half years, filed for divorce citing “compatibility issues”. They also asked the court to waive off the six-month cooling-off period.

On February 20, the family court had denied the request, citing Yuzvendra’s only partial compliance with the terms of the settlement between parties. He had agreed to pay Rs. 4.75 crore in alimony, but had only paid Rs. 2.37 crore at the time of the hearing, reported Bar and Bench.

The case then went to the Bombay HC, where Justice Madhav Jamdar ruled that the second instalment of the payment could be paid as permanent alimony after the divorce.

Yuzvendra and Dhanashree got married in December 2020 and separated in June 2022. They had filed the petition to waive the six-month cooling-off period on February 5.