Indian pace star Irfan Pathan has decided to tie the nuptial knot with his long-time friend Shivangi Dev, a chartered accountant working in Australia.   Irfan, 24, met Shivangi, 22, in Canberra in 2003 when the Indian team was touring Australia and proposed to her when she was on a visit here three years back.

Shivangi, daughter of a diplomat now posted in Spain, promptly said "yes" when Irfan asked whether she would marry him, according to Irfan's father Mehbubkhan Pathan.

In January 2007, Shivangi went to Vadodara to watch Irfan play a Ranji tie against Uttar Pradesh and he kept glancing at a pretty girl sitting near the boundary line even as he hit 82 runs helping his side win the match. 

Shivangi Dev, had come all the way from Australia and she also left the stadium after the Ranji tie along with Yusuf, Irfan's elder brother.