Supporters of India captain Rohit Sharma mocked the talismanic Virat Kohli ahead of the third Test against England in Rajkot on Thursday.
Virat Kohli has been missing from cricketing action with the Rohit Sharma-led side engaged in a five-match Test series against England at home. Virat Kohli has officially cited “personal reasons” behind his absence from the fixtures against the Three Lions.
Though previous reports claimed that Virat Kohli's mother, Saroj Kohli, was suffering from a liver ailment and the senior India batter wanted to be with her at this stage, his brother Vikas Kohli quashed those speculations.
“Hello everyone! I have noticed that there is this fake news about our mom's health been circulating around. Let me clear that our mom is absolutely fit and fine. Also, I would request everyone and also the media, not to spread such news without proper information. Thanks everyone for your concern,” Vikas Kohli said in his post on Instagram.
Subsequently, former South Africa skipper AB de Villiers dropped a bombshell revealing that Virat Kohli withdrew from the series against England due to the impending arrival of his second child.
He noted that the Delhi-born cricketer's wife, actress Anushka Sharma, was expecting a baby four years after she gave birth to their daughter Vamika in 2020.
“All I know is he is fine. He is spending a bit of time with his family, that is the reason he is missing the first two Test matches. I am not going to confirm anything else. I cannot wait to see him back. He is fine, he is happy,” AB de Villiers said on his YouTube channel.
“Let me just see what he said. I just want to at least give you a little bit of love,” the former South Africa skipper added.
“So I wrote to him ‘Been wanting to check in with you for a while now biscuits. How are you?'. He said ‘Just need to be with my family right now'. Then I said I am doing well,” AB de Villiers continued.
“Yes, his second child is on the way. Yes, it's family time and things are important to him. If you are not true and genuine to yourself, you lose track of what you are here for. I think most people's priority is family. You can't judge Virat for that. Yes, we miss him, but he has made the right decision,” he stressed.
However, days later, AB de Villiers made a stunning U-turn, declaring that he gave the wrong information about Virat Kohli and his family.
“Family comes first and then Cricket. I had made a big mistake on my YouTube channel. That information was wrong and not true at all. I think whatever's best for Virat's family comes first. No one knows what's happening there, all i can do is wish him well. Whatever the reason for his break, I hope he can comeback stronger, better and fresh from this,” AB de Villiers told Dainik Bhaskar.
During the weekend, AB de Villiers issued a formal apology to Virat Kohli and his family before admitting that he made a “blunder” by giving untrue information about the India cricketer.
“My friend Virat Kohli is still not available. I cry out to everybody to give him the privacy that he deserves. Family comes first. No one knows what exactly is going on. I am asking all of us to respect that. I did bit of a blunder in my previous show and I apologise to the Kohli family for that,” AB de Villiers said on YouTube.
“Just not nice. I shared information that was not confirmed at all so. I am begging everyone out there to respect him and his family and his private time. Hopefully, we will see Virat back, happy and scoring runs. Like he always does,” he elaborated.
Despite AB de Villiers' latest update about Virat Kohli, social media users took a jibe at the Delhi-born cricketer.
Some even rechristened him as “Chokli” for missing out on an important series and putting his family above the country.
Others reminded him that he could never be like MS Dhoni or Rohit Sharma. For the unversed, MS Dhoni missed the birth of his only daughter, Ziva, in 2015 as he was leading India in the World Cup in Australia.
On Saturday, BCCI secretary Jay Shah confirmed that Virat Kohli would miss the remaining three games of the Test series against England after initially missing out on the first two matches.
“Virat Kohli will remain unavailable for selection for the remainder of the series due to personal reasons. The Board fully respects and supports Kohli's decision,” Jay Shah said.