Jwala is ranked world No. 7 in mixed doubles and currently married to India's top ranked badminton player Chetan Anand but the couple is said to be estranged.
The tabloid reports that Azhar is so besotted with her that he has gifted her a BMW, in which she rides all around Hyderabad -- something that first raised eyebrows, as mixed doubles badminton players are not a well-paid lot.
According to a highly-placed source from the Andhra Pradesh Badminton Association, "Whenever Azhar is in Hyderabad, he is seen in Pullela Gopichand's academy where Jwala practises and they both leave together. They head to some hotel but I am not sure if they stay together in the same room."
"Jwala and her husband are not staying together at the moment and are even practising separately," he adds. Azhar was spotted at the Asian Badminton Championship in Delhi recently and the couple have even been watching matches together.
Gopichand refused to get embroiled in the controversy. "I don't want to comment anything on this," he told cautiously. Azharuddin, who played 99 Tests and 334 One-Day Internationals for India, has two sons -- Asaduddin and Abbasuddin -- from his eight-year marriage to first wife Naureen whom he divorced after he started dating former Bollywood actress Sangeeta Bijlani. The actress was, at the time, dating Bollywood hunk Salman Khan.
While asked about the relationship Azhar told the newspaper 'it was all rumours,'. However, Jwala neither confirmed nor refuted the rumours.
"You can write whatever you want, but it's neither a yes nor a no," said her manager. Even after she was asked if the rumours were baseless, she remained non-committal.
Her husband Chetan Anand said, 'It's a personal issue and I don't want to comment anything.'
Sangeeta Bijlani did not respond to any of the questions.
More Pictures:
Jwala Gutta and her Husband Chetan
Jwala Gutta and her Husband Chetan
Jwala Gutta
