India batting maestro Virat Kohli faced a massive social media backlash following his comments on football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

Virat Kohli's trolling on Twitter came after he posted an Instagram story praising Cristiano Ronaldo for his stellar performance against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in his debut match for Saudi club Al-Nassr.

 

 

In his first game in Saudi Arabia, CR7 produced a scintillating performance, delivering a brace in the former Saudi champions' match against PSG which had the likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and Neymar in their ranks.

However, it was Cristiano Ronaldo who stole the show in the first half with his twin strikes.

Though he didn't succeed in securing victory for Al-Nassr as the Asian side lost to PSG 5-4, his masterful display left Virat Kohli in awe.

Impressed by Cristiano Ronaldo's performance, Virat Kohli took a dig at his critics, telling them that he was doing all this at the age of 38. For the uninitiated, Cristiano Ronaldo will turn 38 next month.

“Still doing it at the highest level at 38. The football experts sitting and criticising him every week for attention and to be in the news are conveniently quiet now that no he's put in this kind of performance against one of the top clubs in the world. And he was apparently finished,” Virat Kohli wrote on Instagram.

The former India captain's swipe at Cristiano Ronaldo's critics came after the Funchal-born footballer's detractors slammed him for his recent move to Saudi Arabia.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was forced to join the Asian club after he departed from Manchester United in a shocking turn of events in November.

In a bombshell interview, Ronaldo accused the top management of the Red Devils of plotting his exit from the club. His accusations eventually resulted in the English Premier League side terminating his contract.

But this isn't the first time Virat Kohli has praised Ronaldo in the last few months.

Kohli is a hardcore Cristiano Ronaldo fan and has often declared him the greatest footballer of all time ahead of his eternal rival Lionel Messi.

The Team India superstar said the same thing about the former Real Madrid attacker after Cristiano Ronaldo left the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in tears.

CR7's dream of winning football's greatest competition came to an end last month after Portugal suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at the hands of giant killers Morocco in the quarterfinals of the tournament.

Days after an inconsolable Cristiano Ronaldo left the Middle East country, possibly ending his hopes of ever lifting the World Cup trophy, Virat Kohli took to Twitter to label the impact the Portugal captain has had on people around the world as a “gift from God”.

“No trophy or any title can take anything away from what you’ve done in this sport and for sports fans around the world. No title can explain the impact you’ve had on people and what I and so many around the world feel when we watch you play. That’s a gift from god,” Virat Kohli wrote on the microblogging website on Monday.

“A real blessing to a man who plays his heart out every single time and is the epitome of hard work and dedication and a true inspiration for any sportsperson. You are for me the greatest of all time,” he added.

Speaking about Virat Kohli's cricketing career, he broke a slew of world records during his masterful unbeaten 166-run-knock off 110 deliveries against Sri Lanka last weekend.

Virat Kohli now has 20 Player of the Series awards to his name in international cricket, the same as Sachin Tendulkar.

With his 166 not out against the islanders, Virat Kohli now has the most unbeaten 150+ scores (5) in the history of ODIs.

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The ton was his 21st at home in the second-longest format of the sport, taking him clear of Sachin Tendulkar’s previous tally of 20.

During his sensational innings, Virat Kohli also overtook Sri Lanka legend Mahela Jayawardene to occupy the fifth spot among the highest run-getters in ODIs.

But since that knock, Virat Kohli has suffered two successive failures against New Zealand, leading to severe criticism from Babar Azam's supporters.

In the series against New Zealand, Virat Kohli has only succeeded in putting up scores of 8 and 11 in the first two matches, losing his wicket to Mitchell Santner both times.

Mitchell Santner, the left-arm New Zealand spinner, has been able to trouble Virat Kohli with his dip, spin, and bounce with the latter making errors in judgment, both in Hyderabad and Raipur.

While in the first match in Telangana, Virat Kohli played inside the line, getting bowled for 8, on Saturday, he was stumped by wicketkeeper Tom Latham after the premier India batter took a long stride to cover the spin and came out of the crease.

Babar Azam and Virat Kohli fans often take jibes at each other, highlighting the records of the two players.

Last week, the India superstar's vast legion of fans castigated the premier Pakistan batter by labeling him “Zimbabar” on social media.

The 28-year-old Pakistani cricketer has been accused of scoring truckloads of runs on placid pitches in his home country, which former players like Simon Doull have publicly described as “roads” in recent days.

Moreover, yet another allegation that has come Babar Azam’s way is that he only plays for records and not for victories, earning him the moniker of “Zimbabar”.