Indian women's cricket star Smriti Mandhana was conspicuously absent from a special episode of Kaun Banega Crorepati featuring her World Cup-winning team, fuelling intense online speculation given the recent public chaos surrounding her postponed wedding, her father's health scare, and rumours of infidelity involving her fiance.

The wedding of cricketer Smriti Mandhana and Palash Muchhal was abruptly postponed following two sudden health setbacks: her father suffered an emergency requiring immediate hospitalisation, and Palash himself was briefly admitted for a viral infection.