Tag: VIrat Kohli

  • Anushka, Virat share some ‘special’ paw-tastic moments from 2020

    Anushka, Virat share some ‘special’ paw-tastic moments from 2020

    Anushka Sharma has shared a video of her ‘priceless moments’ from 2020, which shows her and her husband, Virat Kohli playing with dogs.

    In the new video, the couple, who are strong animal activists, could be seen playing with a bunch of dogs; feeding them, going on walks with them, and petting them, around what appears to be a farmland where they spent some time last year. Anushka’s dog, Dude, can also be seen with them.

    Fans showered love on the couple in the comments section with some commenting that the video was ‘superb’ and ‘awesome’. The video also crossed five million views on Instagram.

    Earlier this month, Virat had announced that he was collaborating with an animal healthcare company and NGO supporting stray animals to build safe spaces and ensure easy medical access to the stray animals of our city. Kohli said that the the aim of his shelters is to “ensure health and support” to stray animals. He also thanked Anushka for inspiring him.

    “Looking after the welfare of animals is a cause very close to my heart now as Anushka is very passionate about this issue. Her vision to help stray animals across India is truly inspiring for me and since I have met her, I have tried to understand more about animal rights and the urgent need for medical assistance for strays. It is our dream to create a safer space for the stray animals of our city,” Kohli had said in a statement.

    Anushka and Virat became parents for the first time earlier this year. Their daughter Vamika was born in January, but they’ve been particular about not sharing pictures of the baby on social media. They have also requested the press to not carry unauthorised images of the baby.

  • Babar Azam dethrones Virat Kohli to become number one ODI batsman

    Babar Azam dethrones Virat Kohli to become number one ODI batsman

    Babar Azam has dethroned the Captain of the Indian Cricket Team Virat Kohli to become the number one batsman in One-Day Internationals, becoming the fourth batsman from Pakistan to attain the number one position in the latest ICC rankings list update, released on Wednesday.

    The 26-year-old player of the match scored 94 off 82 balls in the last match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League series against South Africa in Centurion which helped him gain 13 rating points to reach 865 points and he now leads the Indian captain by eight points.

    Babar, a star of the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cups in 2010 and 2012 has been playing ODIs since 2015 and had started the series against South Africa at 837 rating points but moved up to 858 (ahead of Kohli) after his score of 103 in the first match. He dropped to 852 by the time of the last weekly rankings update with a score of 32 in the second ODI.

    By ending Kohli’s 1,258 day-supremacy, Babar has emulated compatriots Zaheer Abbas (1983-84), Javed Miandad (1988-89), and Mohammad Yousuf (2003) as the number one ODI batsman. In Tests, Babar has attained a best of the fifth position and is currently ranked sixth while in T20Is he is third but has been number one in the past.

    Meanwhile, Fakhar Zaman is another Pakistan batsman to move up the ODI batting charts, gaining five slots to reach a career-best seventh position after his knock of 101. Shaheen Afridi (up four places to a career-best 11th place) and left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz (up 29 places to 96th) have progressed thanks to their three-wicket hauls in the match.

    Babar had earlier overtaken Rohit Sharma to get to the second spot.

    Reacting to the news, Azam, in a statement, said: “I feel privileged and honoured to have joined the company of stalwarts like Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad and Mohammad Yousuf, who will always be the shining stars of Pakistan cricket.”

    “This is another milestone in my career, which will now require even more hard work and absolute consistency with the bat in order for me to hold on to the ranking for an extended period of time, like Sir Vivian Richards from January 1984 to October 1988 and Virat Kohli for 1,258 days,” he continued.

    The captain further said: “I have also previously topped the T20I rankings, but the ultimate ambition and goal is to lead the Test rankings, which are the real testament and reward to a batsman’s calibre, reputation and skills. I understand to achieve this objective, I will not only have to perform consistently but more importantly, against the top sides.”

    “I am looking forward to this challenge and remain confident I will be able to accomplish this target with the support of my teammates and coaching staff. But at this stage, I will savour the moment as it has come almost 18 months after I was first appointed the white-ball captain and that too at the back of my performances which helped Pakistan become the first Asian side to win two ODI series in South Africa,” added Azam.

  • Babar Azam grabs second spot in latest ODI batting rankings

    Babar Azam grabs second spot in latest ODI batting rankings

    Pakistan’s all-format captain Babar Azam has dethroned Rohit Sharma to grab the second spot in the latest ICC ODI rankings for batsmen. With 837 rating points, Babar has gone past Rohit’s tally of 836 points after the latter failed to play big innings in the first ODI against England.

    Captain of the Indian cricket team Virat Kohli is still at the top with 868 rating points to his name. England’s opener Jonny Bairstow played an innings of 94 in the 1st ODI to clinch his career-best 7th position in the ODI rankings.

    The English captain Eoin Morgan has moved to 24th place whereas all-rounder Ben Stokes has moved up from 75th to 64th in the ICC ODI rankings for bowlers.

    Stokes also went past his fellow all-rounder Chris Woakes to clinch the third spot in the ODI rankings for all-rounders. After a match-winning knock of 98, India’s opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan has moved two places to 15th and pace bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has gained five places to get into the list of top 20.

    The rankings are updated after taking into account the performances in the 1st England-India ODI and the first two matches of the New Zealand-Bangladesh series.

    On the other hand, Azam is on the same spot of three in T20I rankings with 801 rating points followed by Kohli who moved up one spot with 762 rating points.

    On the contrary, thePakistani skipper is at sixth place in the ICC Test Batting Rankings.

  • Kareena Kapoor, Virat Kohli share pictures of their babies on Women’s Day

    Kareena Kapoor, Virat Kohli share pictures of their babies on Women’s Day

    Kareena Kapoor Khan and Virat Kohli are celebrating International Women’s Day by sharing pictures of their little ones with their fans. While Kareena shared the first glimpse of her newborn son, Kohli posted a picture of daughter Vamika and wife Anushka Sharma on social media.

    “There’s nothing women can’t do. Happy Women’s Day my loves,” wrote Kareena alongside a picture of herself with her son, whose name has not yet been announced. Kareena and Saif Ali Khan welcomed their second child last month on February 21.

    On the other hand, Kohli said: “Seeing the birth of a child is the most spine chilling, unbelievable and amazing experience a human being can have.”

    “After witnessing that, you understand the true strength and divinity of women and why God created life inside them. It’s because they are way stronger than us men,” he continued.

    “Happy Women’s Day to the most fiercely, compassionate and strong woman of my life and to the one who’s going to grow up to be like her mother. And a Happy Women’s Day to all the amazing women of the world,” he added.

    The picture post comes after Anushka announced their daughter’s name on Instagram recently. In February, Anushka shared a perfect family picture with a caption that read, :We have lived together with love , presence and gratitude as a way of life but this little one , Vamika has taken it to a whole new level ! Tears , laughter , worry , bliss – emotions that have been experienced in a span of minutes sometimes ! Sleep is elusive ? but our hearts are SO full. Thanking you all for your wishes , prayers and good energy.”

  • Virat Kohli becomes the first cricketer to join the ‘100 million followers club’ on Instagram

    Virat Kohli becomes the first cricketer to join the ‘100 million followers club’ on Instagram

    Virat Kohli has recorded yet another century, but not on the pitch this time. The Indian cricketer became the first cricketer in the world to have 100 million followers on Instagram. The 32-year-old captain of the Indian Cricket Team is also the first person in the Asia-Pacific region to achieve the feat.

    Announcing the news, the International Cricket Council (ICC) shared a picture of Kohli along with other personalities, who are already in the squad, writing: “Virat Kohli – the first cricket star to hit 100 million followers on Instagram.”

    Kohli is also the most-followed sportsperson in India.

    Meanwhile, Portugal football legend Christiano Ronaldo tops the chart with 266 million followers. He was also the first person to cross the 250 million feat. Argentina football captain and FC Barcelona legend Lionel Messi and Brazil’s Neymar are second and third on the list with 187 million and 147 million followers respectively.

    Others in 100 million club are Hollywood actor and former wrestler Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson, American singer-songwriter Beyoncé and Ariana Grande.

    Kohli, who is regarded as one of the finest batsmen in the world, has 27 Test centuries and 43 tons in ODI cricket.

    For over two years now, Kohli has been the most followed person on Instagram in India. Even his wife Anushka Sharma hasn’t crossed 50 million followers on the social media app. She currently has 46.4 million followers.

  • Virat Kohli opens up about his battle with depression

    Virat Kohli opens up about his battle with depression

    In a recent podcast with Mark Nicholas, Indian captain Virat Kohli opened up about his battle with depression. Virat’s performance was disastrous during India’s 2014 tour of England. He only scored 134 runs in five Tests, which made him feel like the “loneliest guy in the world”.

    Talking about suffering from depression, Kohli said, “I did. It’s not a great feeling when you wake up knowing that you won’t be able to score any runs, and I think all batsmen have felt that at some stage or the other, where you’re not in control of anything at all. And I just couldn’t understand at all how to get over it.”

    Looking back at his difficult phase, the Indian captain said, “I think that when you look back at a very difficult phase, you realise that you had to go through that phase fully to be able to understand what’s wrong and rectify it and move forward, and just open yourself up for change, accept that there are things that are going wrong. But that was a phase where I literally couldn’t do anything to overturn what I was going through and it was tough.”

    He continued, “I felt like I was the loneliest guy in the world. And that’s what happens, you can really push yourself into a downward spiral, where you feel like you’re going further down with each day that passes. But when things turn around, you feel that maybe I was being too harsh on myself, I was putting myself down way more than what was required for me to change. So now I understand with years passing by, that there’s a line that needs to be drawn and beyond that line, if you’re going downwards, it’s absolutely not required.”

    Kohli also revealed how Sachin Tendulkar’s advice helped him. “I did have a chat with him about the mental side of things as well and the thing that he told me was, in cricket what he experienced was if you are going through a strong negative feeling and if that is coming into your system regularly, it is best to let it pass. If you start fighting that feeling, it grows stronger. So, that is the advice I took on board and my mindset really opened up from then on.”

    During the podcast, Virat also praised his wife Anushka Sharma by calling her his, “Pillar of Strength” and added that no one understands him better than her.

    Last month, Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli welcomed their baby girl, Vamika.

  • ‘Our hearts are so full’: Anushka Sharma shares first glimpse, name of baby daughter

    ‘Our hearts are so full’: Anushka Sharma shares first glimpse, name of baby daughter

    Anushka Sharma has shared the first glimpse and revealed the name of her newborn daughter.

    Sharing a family picture, Anushka said: “We have lived together with love, presence and gratitude as a way of life but this little one, Vamika has taken it to a whole new level!”

    “Tears, laughter, worry, bliss – emotions that have been experienced in a span of minutes sometimes!” said the actor further, adding: “Sleep is elusive but our hearts are SO full.”

    “Thanking you all for your wishes, prayers and good energy,” she added.

    The picture of the couple along with the newborn went viral on social media garnering more than 2.6 million likes within an hour of being shared by Anushka.

    Anushka and Virat Kohli welcomed their bundle of joy on January 11, 2020. At the time of the birth, the power couple had requested the paparazzi to respect their privacy and not click pictures of their newborn. They had also sent gifts to the media with their request.

    Meanwhile, before her daughter’s birth, Anushka while speaking to Vogue Magazine had said that she wants to raise her child away from media attention as she does not want to “raise brats”.

    “We’ve thought about it a lot. We definitely do not want to raise a child in the public eye—we don’t plan on engaging our child in social media,” the actor had said. “I think it’s a decision your child should be able to take. No kid should be made to be more special than the other. It’s hard enough for adults to deal with it. It’s going to be difficult, but we intend to follow through.”

  • Kerala HC issues notice to Virat Kohli for ‘getting India’s youth addicted to gambling’

    Kerala HC issues notice to Virat Kohli for ‘getting India’s youth addicted to gambling’

    The High Court of Kerala has issued notices to Indian skipper Virat Kohli, along with actors Tamannaah Bhatia, Aju Vargheese, and the state government in a plea seeking a ban on online gambling in the state.

    According to reports, the court plea alleges that as brand ambassadors of online rummy games they are getting the youth of India addicted to gambling after victims claimed the three celebrities have played a role in tempting them.

    The petition also seeks a ban on the game.

    The petitioner had complained to the high court that several people have lost their lives in the country after losing huge amounts of money by playing rummy online. A 27-year-old had reportedly committed suicide two weeks ago after losing Rs2.1 million in the online game.

    Sajesh, 32, who had lost a huge amount playing online rummy said: “The intervention of the honourable high court is welcome as I know that several people have lost huge amount of money playing this online game and I myself have lost more than Rs 6 lakh.

    “The brand ambassadors indeed play a big role in attracting the gullible youth in playing this game which soon turns into an addiction. I had to seek professional medical help to come out of this addiction and the court must ban this game in India.”

    No statements have been issued by the three celebrities yet, with Kohli currently on paternity leave while he spends time with his newborn daughter and wife Anushka Sharma.

    Kohli and Anushka Sharma were blessed with a baby girl earlier this month. On the other hand, Tamannah recently wrapped up the shoot for her upcoming web show November Story, which she described as a ‘nail-biting series’. The series will release on Disney+ Hotstar soon.

  • Virat Kohli, Anushka Sharma send gifts to paparazzi with a request

    Virat Kohli, Anushka Sharma send gifts to paparazzi with a request

    Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma, who welcomed their baby girl on Monday, have sent gifts to photographers along with a personalised note in which they requested them not to take pictures of their little one.

    According to photographer Viral Bhayani, Anushka and Virat sent a box of goodies which includes sweets, dry fruits and chocolates to him and his team. The gift box also included a message for the photographers, written in Hindi and English which read: “We want to protect the privacy of our child and we need your help and support.”

    “While we will always ensure that you get all the content you need us featuring us, we would request you to kindly not take or carry any content that has our child,” it added.

    Earlier, Anushka had slammed a photographer and publication for capturing and posting her Virat’s private moment.

    Taking to Instagram, Sharma had posted the picture taken by the photographer and wrote, “Despite requesting the said photographer and publication, they still continue to invade our privacy.”

    “Guys! Stop this right now,” she had added.

    Speaking to Vogue Magazine, Anushka had said that she wants to raise her child away from media attention as she does not want to “raise brats”.

    “We’ve thought about it a lot. We definitely do not want to raise a child in the public eye—we don’t plan on engaging our child in social media,” the actor had said. “I think it’s a decision your child should be able to take. No kid should be made to be more special than the other. It’s hard enough for adults to deal with it. It’s going to be difficult, but we intend to follow through.”

    Meanwhile, veteran Bollywood actress Raveena Tandon has praised the photographers for accepting and respecting the couple’s request, adding that the photographers had been very kind to her also when her children were younger.

  • Imran beats de Villiers, Kohli and Lanning to win ICC ‘best captain’ poll

    Imran Khan, who led the Pakistani cricket team to victory in the 1992 world cup, has been voted as the ‘best captain’ in a poll tweeted by the International Cricket Council.

    In a tweet, the ICC had shared a list of the best captain that included India’s Virat Kohli, South Africa’s Ab de Villiers and Australia’s Meg Lanning and asked: “Who would you rate as the best among these giants?”

    People chose Imran over all these “legends”, who narrowly defeated India’s Kohli to come on top.

    The poll was created after the ICC shared statistics of these “extraordinary cricketers”. It said captaincy “proved a blessing” for Imran, de Villiers, Lanning and Kohli whose “averages improved as leaders” of their respective teams.

    WHO ARE THESE ‘PACESETTERS’?

    Virat Kohli:

    Virat Kohli is the captain of the India national team since 2013. He is regarded as one of the best contemporary batsmen in the world. In 2018, he became the first cricketer to be awarded the top three International Cricket Council (ICC) awards—Cricketer of the Year, Test Cricketer of the Year and ODI Cricketer of the Year.

    Ab de Villiers:

    The South African skipper has been named as the ICC ODI Player of the Year three times during his 15-year international career. Cricinfo has described him as a “cricketer with overflowing talent and the temperament to back it up”.

    Meg Lanning:

    As the captain of the Australian women team, Lanning has multiple world cup titles in her name: one Women’s Cricket World Cup and four ICC Women’s World Twenty20 titles. She also holds the record of most ODI centuries.

    Imran Khan:

    Imran Khan was the captain of the Pakistani team that won the world cup. He is also the one who introduced reverse swing and popularised it.  Spot a left-arm pacer in Pakistan, you’ll glimpse a Wasim Akram; you spot a right-arm pacer in Pakistan, said an article in Cricbuzz.

    REACTIONS TO IMRAN AS THE BEST CAPTAIN: