Virat Kohli, who celebrated his 36th birthday on Tuesday, was left shy and arguably borderline embarrassed after a crowd gathered for an event featuring him broke into ‘Happy Birthday’ chants for the Indian superstar. Kohli was a guest during an HSBC event in Mumbai and received a thunderous ovation when he graced the stage. But before he could get going, Gaurav Kapoor, the anchor, decided to get the crowd involved. He asked everyone in attendance whether they wanted to wish their beloved Kohli a Happy Birthday, to which the crowd gleefully responded.
As soon as the crowd broke into a spontaneous ‘Happy Birthday’ chant, Kohli couldn’t help but blush, caught between embarrassment and gratitude. His expressions showed a mix of surprise and delight as he soaked in the moment. Eventually, he smiled and thanked the crowd for their heartwarming gesture before continuing with the event.
Kohli was in Mumbai as he turned a year older. Wounded from India’s 0-3 clean sweep by New Zealand, Kohli’s next big assignment starts November 22, when the five-Test series in Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy begins. With reports emerging that Kohli is fast transitioning into settling in London – if he hasn’t already – the former India captain opted to stay back in the country and celebrate his birthday.
Kohli received a cute public birthday post from wife Anushka Sharma, marking son Akaay’s first appearance on Instagram, but overall, it was one of the fondest birthdays for Virat for a couple of reasons.
How Virat Kohli celebrated 36th birthday
“This was probably the most chilled-out birthday I’ve had through all these years. It was just Anushka (Sharma) and our two kids at home. It was very relaxed. The birthday was basically for my daughter. Happens so when you have kids. I don’t know about being wiser, but I’m older for sure,” Kohli said.
On Thursday, Kohli officially announced his partnership with his new team, ‘Sporting Beyond.’ However, the announcement initially caused more alarm than excitement, as fans on X mistook it for a retirement post. The text-only message on a plain white background instantly reminded fans of his past announcements about stepping down as India’s T20I and Test captain. Thankfully, fans were soon able to breathe a sigh of relief upon realising their worst fears were unfounded.
Kohli and the rest of the senior members of the team are missing from the four T20Is series between India and South Africa that kickstarts on Friday. With a big test coming up in the form of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, all eyes will be on Kohli to repeat his heroics from the 2014/15 tour, where he amassed almost 700 runs.
Under Kohli, India won the 2018/19 Test series Down Under, whereas in 2020/21, Kohli returned home after India lost the first Test in Adelaide. With this potentially being his last Test tour of Australia, Kohli hopes to build on his already solid Test record against the Aussies, which stands at a comprehensive tally of 2042 runs from 25 Tests, including eight centuries.
