Virat Kohli unrecognisable less than a month after his last public appearance; fans concerned: 'ODI retirement loading?'

Virat Kohli has sparked concern among fans after a new picture of the Indian batting superstar emerged on Friday. Kohli was clicked with a guy called Shash Patel in London, and while social media could not confirm who the person is, Virat's grey beard took away all the attention. Kohli looks visibly different, even borderline unrecognisable because of the greyness in his beard, and the fact that he is 36, closing in on 37, hit his fans like a brick. Less than a month after he last made a public appearance – in an event hosted by Yuvraj Singh on July 10 – Kohli's appearance has left fans shocked and concerned. What happened to Virat Kohli?(Twitter)

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It was during that event that Kohli broke silence on his decision to retire from Test cricket. Although he did not elaborate in detail, Kohli did mention, "I just coloured my beard two days ago. You know it's time when you are colouring your beard every four days." While it became fodder for memers to aim potshots at Kohli, with many believing he was hiding the real truth behind his humour, the fact that Virat, in fact, has a lot of greys proves his point.

Here is how social media reacted:

When Virat Kohli's grey beard first caught attention

This isn’t the first time Kohli’s grey beard has grabbed attention. In July 2023, Kohli posted a picture with his wife, Anushka Sharma, in which his increasingly white beard caught more attention than the post itself. Like MS Dhoni, Kohli, too, developed a grey beard quite early. It's a well-established fact that captaincy in Indian cricket is no cakewalk and that it takes a heavier mental toll than anything else. In fact, when Kohli had stepped down as India's Test captain in early 2022, Anushka, in her caption, had noted the following.

"I remember MS [Dhoni], you and I having a chat and him joking about how quickly your beard will start turning grey. We all had a good laugh about it. Since that day, I've seen more than just your beard turning grey. I've seen growth; immense growth."

Kohli retired from T20I cricket last year after India won the T20 World Cup in the West Indies. But while it was on expected lines, what wasn't was that he could bid adieu to the Test format too, less than a year later. On May 12, Kohli shocked the world when he announced his retirement from Test cricket after 14 glorious years, on Instagram, days before India's Test squad for the tour of England was to be picked.

Kohli was expected to return to action this month, but the postponement of India's tour of Bangladesh delayed his comeback even further. Kohli is now expected to be back playing for India in October, when the Indian team travels to Australia for a limited-overs tour, featuring three ODIs and five T20Is.

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