Virat Kohli irked World Cup winner Lionel Messi's fans with his recent remarks on his long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

Cristiano Ronaldo made his debut for Saudi club Al-Nassr this week and following his twin goals in his first game in the kingdom against Paris Saint-Germain, Virat Kohli took to Instagram to praise his performance.

“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 Virat Kohli's rich praise of Cristiano Ronaldo didn't go well with Lionel Messi's admirers who reminded him that the Portuguese star was yet to win a FIFA World Cup title while the Argentine has one.

 

With his heroics in Qatar, Lionel Messi became the first player ever to claim the Golden Ball award twice. He was named the best player of the tournament in 2014 as well when the South American side was beaten by Germany in the final.

In addition to that, the 35-year-old became the first player in the 92-year history of the competition to score goals in each of the four knock-out matches, beginning with a 35th-minute strike in the Round of 16 against Australia.

Subsequently, La Pulga netted a goal each against the Netherlands and Croatia in the quarter-finals and the semifinals respectively before delivering a sensational brace versus France in the title clash.

Moreover, Lionel Messi is the only footballer in the history of the sport to have defeated the defending Copa America, European and World Champions in a row, having accomplished the feat by overpowering Brazil in the Copa America final last year, Euro winners Italy in the Finalissima earlier this year and 2018 World Champions France on Sunday.

Despite Lionel Messi's bagful of feats, Virat Kohli remains a hardcore Cristiano Ronaldo fan and has often declared him the greatest footballer of all time ahead of the Paris Saint-Germain attacker.

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.

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.