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Virat Kohli has left his millions of fans puzzled. The 37-year-old’s Instagram account suddenly vanished in the early hours of Friday, with several speculating if he deactivated it following India’s ODI series against New Zealand. Some fans even wrote to the star No 3’s wife, Anushka Sharma, in her comment section, playfully asking: 'Where did Cheeku go?'
Kohli’s Instagram profile was not visible at the time of writing this story. “The link may be broken, or the profile may have been removed,” the message on the platform read. Neither the cricketer nor his team has issued a statement yet.
Read More: Virat Kohli’s return to Test cricket: A nonsensical move that risks damaging his legacy and what he has left to give
Virat Kohli has over 274 million followers on Instagram and ranks amongst the most popular sportspersons on the Meta platform – behind only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. It is unclear why his Instagram account is no longer visible, whether it was deactivated or deleted.
Kohli’s fans react
“Virat kohli has deactivated his Instagram Account 💀💀💀💔” one person wrote on X, platform formerly known as Twitter.
Some fans also claimed that the RCB superstar’s brother, Vikas Kohli, has also deactivated his Instagram account.
“Virat Kohli’s brother Vikash Kohli has also deactivated his Instagram account. What the hell is happening???” another user asked.
“Virat Kohli deactivated his Instagram account?? That too after Arijit Singh's retirement??” a third fan tweeted.
Anushka Sharma’s comment section flooded
Meanwhile, some fans posted messages on Anushka Sharma’s comment section. “Cheeku kaha gya????” one person asked.
Read More: R Ashwin ‘spoke to’ Virat Kohli after being accused of ‘indirect attack’: ‘Thanks for giving us a reason to bond’
“Where is Bhabhi bhaiya’s account?????????” another fan added.
Yo-yo test controversy
Back in 2023, Kohli’s social media post reportedly irked some of the BCCI’s top bosses. The 37-year-old had shared his fitness test score just days before the Asia Cup, a 17.2.
“The happiness of finishing the yo-yo test between the dreaded cones. 17.2 done,” he wrote along with a photo of himself. However, as per reports, the Indian team management then asked players not to post their yo-yo scores on social media. The directive came from BCCI’s top bosses, The Indian Express reported.
“Players have been informed verbally to avoid posting any confidential matter on social media platforms. They can post pictures while training but posting a score leads to breach of contract clause,” a BCCI official reportedly said.
‘Social media taking energy’
Only last year, Kohli spoke about social media. During the RCB Innovation Lab’s Indian Sports Summit, he said: “The kind of attention you get and the kind of traction you receive when you put something out there on a platform is quite unbelievable to be honest. It’s quite intense. Luckily, I was born in a time when I didn’t work with this thing (my phone) in my pocket.”
“So for me to just keep it on the side is pretty easy. Hence I don’t engage in posts a lot these days. A lot of people are not happy about that but that’s something that I’ve consciously tried to do.”
“Because as I said, to keep up with that stream was just way too much. I just physically felt like it was taking a lot of my energy away from me which I would absolutely apply to my game, to my life, people around me. And I didn’t want to waste any of that.”
