Rishi Sunak goes candid on how he proposed to wife Akshata Murthy; reveals who is his favourite cricketer: 'I'm married into...'

Former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak went candid on how he proposed to his wife Akshata Murthy. He revealed that he asked his wife to marry him in Kannada, despite not being fluent in the language. In an interview with Times of India, Sunak said that he did so as he wanted to honour her roots and respect her culture. 

Akshata Murthy is the daughter of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy and celebrated author and philanthropist Sudha Murthy. Rishi Sunak further shared how marrying into the Murthy family deepened his appreciation for the Kannada culture, turning him into a hard core fan of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). 

“I’m married into a Bangalore family, so RCB is my team,” Rishi Sunak told TOI, recalling that he was gifted an RCB jersey by his in-laws which sparked his passionate loyalty for Virat Kohli's team. "We went to matches a long time ago and I used to cheer them on in Downing Street,” Sunak recalled. 

"My favourite cricketer..."

Rishi Sunak revealed that his favourite cricketer is Virat Kohli, calling him a "total legend". He also shared that one of his most cherished and memorable mementoes is a bat signed by the cricketer, gifted to him during his tenure as British Prime Minister by India's External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar. 

"It's one of my prized possessions," said the former British PM. Sunak also lauded Indian Premier League's (IPL) contribution to sports and more epecifically, world cricket. 

"The IPL has transformed cricket. Every cricketer, everywhere, wants to play in the IPL at some point in their career now. I was at Edgbaston last week watching England vs West Indies. Jacob Bethell played a brilliant innings. The IPL has improved him as a player", he said.