India’s Virat Kohli is happily married to Anushka Sharma. But there was a time when rumors of his affair with Tamannaah Bhatia created a buzz.
Talismanic India batter Virat Kohli is happily married to Bollywood starlet Anushka Sharma. But there was a time when rumors of his affair with another actress Tamannaah Bhatia created a buzz in tinsel town.
Talks of Virat Kohli and Tamannaah Bhatia began gaining traction after the two paired together for an advertisement.
Subsequently much was written about the cricketer and the movie star but Virat Kohli went on to dismiss the speculations with elan in 2017 after he tied the knot with Anushka Sharma.
Even after Virat Kohli’s wedding to Anushka Sharma, stories about his alleged relationship with Tamannaah Bhatia continued to emerge online with neither the India maestro nor the Baahubali actress confirming or denying the same.
Then in 2019, Tamannaah Bhatia shocked the entire world by admitting that she never dated Virat Kohli. She went on to reveal that she spoke only four words with the India batting icon during their interaction for a television commercial and that’s about it.
“I think we spoke four words during the ad film, that’s it. After that, I’ve never met or spoken to Virat. But, I must say he was better than most of the actors we work with. And it was quite intimidating,” Tamannaah Bhatia told a news publication in 2019.
Speaking about Tamannaah Bhatia’s current love life, she is speculated to be in a romantic liaison with Gully Boy actor Vijay Varma after a video of them kissing each other during a New Year’s bash went viral on social media.
Days after they made their first joint appearance, going out for a dinner date in Mumbai.
On the other hand, Virat Kohli will be back donning India colors on Thursday when Team India will take on Australia in the first Test against Australia in Nagpur.
After having a horrific three-year run with the bat, Virat Kohli has found form in the last six months.
In September 2022, the 34-year-old ended his nearly three-year wait for an international ton, having slammed his maiden T20I hundred against Afghanistan during the Asia Cup.
Subsequently, Virat Kohli set the T20 World Cup in Australia on fire with a series of sublime knocks, including a sensational unbeaten 82-run-knock against Pakistan which many cricket pundits claimed was the best-ever innings in the format.
Yet Team India failed to win the competition, bowing out in the semifinals to eventual champions England. But Virat Kohli finished as the tournament’s top-scorer with 296 runs in six matches at an incredible average of 98.66.
In January 2023, he broke a slew of world records during his masterful unbeaten 166-run knock against Sri Lanka.
Virat Kohli now has 20 Player of the Series awards to his name in international cricket, the same as Sachin Tendulkar. If we bifurcate their numbers further, Virat Kohli has claimed 3 Man of the Series trophies in Tests, 10 in ODIs, and 7 in T20Is.
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.
With 12,809 runs, Virat Kohli is now only behind Sachin Tendulkar (18,426), Kumar Sangakkara (14,234), Ricky Ponting (13,704), and Sanath Jayasuriya (13,430).
Moreover, Virat Kohli is the quickest to amass 46 centuries in ODI cricket – a milestone he achieved in just 259 innings. On the other hand, the previous record holder Sachin Tendulkar needed 431 innings to get there.
This was his 10th century against Sri Lanka, making him the first man to score that many tons against a single team in ODIs.
But Virat Kohli’s numbers in Test cricket are in complete contrast to his white-ball figures.
His last 10 knocks in Tests have been pathetic, to say the least, and his scores in all these innings read as 1 & 24 vs Bangladesh in the second Test, 19* & 1 vs Bangladesh in the first Test, 20 & 11 vs England, 13 & 23 vs Sri Lanka in the second Test, 45 vs Sri Lanka in the first Test and 29 vs South Africa in the second essay of the third Test.
His last half-century in Test cricket came in the Cape Town Test against South Africa in the first innings, which was also his final match as the national team’s skipper. Kohli had scored a well-compiled 79 off 201 deliveries at the time.
In December 2022, Virat Kohli’s scores against Bangladesh read 1, 19 not out, 24, and 1.
The Delhi-born cricket star’s poor display with the bat meant that he finished the series with an average of 15, his second-worst performance in a two-game bilateral series in the Asian subcontinent. It was also his fourth-worst show with the bat in a series overall.
Pawan Atri is an India-based sports correspondent specializing in cricket, tennis, and soccer. He has previously interviewed some of the top sports names in South Asia, including Pakistani legend Wasim Akram. When not following Virat Kohli, who happens to be his favorite cricketer, Pawan could be found watching tennis.
