2007 was a very different time in India-Pakistan relations. The two countries were not only on talking terms but were also engaged in sporting contests. From 2004 till 2007, there was a full cricket tour by one of the countries to the other every year.
In 2007, Pakistan visited India to play a 5-match ODI series and 3-match Test series. India were able to win both the contests. In the course of this tour, Pakistani cricketers made a lot of appearances on Indian television. Shoaib Akhtar even gave a demonstration of his singing skills on a reality show.
One of the special events organised during the tour for both teams was a show called 'Chak de Yaara!' hosted by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan and attended by players of both the teams. The show was full of funny moments as King Khan was in full form, entertaining the cricketers as well as pulling their legs.
This was also around the time when Khan's movie Om Shanti Om had succeeded at the box office and the debutante actress who played the lead opposite him – Deepika Padukone – was riding high on success. Another interesting angle that had emerged around that time was the rumour that Deepika is in a relationship with either Mahendra Singh Dhoni or Yuvraj Singh.
At his cheeky best, Shah Rukh wasn't going to let go of this opportunity to tease the two players. During the course of the show, many of the cricketers had been called on to the stage by the Bollywood star and light-hearted conversations had ensued.
When MS Dhoni came on to the stage, Khan brought up Padukone and said to the wicketkeeper-batsman, in a funny tone, "What I want to tell you is, I have a heroine working with me, Deepika. Maybe, you don't know her."
To this, Mahi replied: "Yuvi knows her!" Pat came the reply from Shah Rukh: "Yes, Yuvi knows her, after all, she is his sister." This brought a smile on lots of people's faces, including Yuvraj's.
The reply of Dhoni was an indication that it was Yuvraj and not he who was dating Deepika. As we later found out, Dhoni was already in a relationship with his future wife Sakshi. The rumours of Yuvraj and Deepika being in a relationship eventually became confirmed. However, the two stars broke up later and went their separate ways. While Deepika ended up marrying Ranveer Singh, Yuvraj finally found the right girl in the form of another actress, Hazel Keech.
