- Sunday, March 09, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Ace India cricketer Virat Kohli, who is currently playing the T20 World Cup in Australia, was left appalled after he found a breach at his hotel room in Perth when Team India players stayed in the city for their preparatory camp ahead of the marquee tournament which started this month.
Though the 33-year-old, who has been in fine touch this World Cup and gave his team a memorable victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in the tournament, did not say when the incident took place, ESPNCricinfo reported that it happened on October 8, two days after the Men in Blue reached Down Under.
Virat Kohli has shared disturbing footage of what appears to be strangers recording a video in his hotel room.
? Instagram/virat.kohli#T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/Cq9Dr2uzWc
— Nic Savage (@nic_savage1) October 31, 2022
On Monday (31), Kohli revealed the breach via a video on his Instagram page after India finished their Perth leg of the World Cup with the match against South Africa played on Sunday (30).
The video, which was originally uploaded on TikTok by an unidentified user, gave viewers a walkthrough of the room and was captioned “King Kohli’s hotel room”.
In a post slamming the intrusion into his room, the star batter said on Instagram, “I understand that fans get very happy and excited seeing their favourite players and get excited to meet them and I’ve always appreciated that. But this video here is appalling and it’s made me feel very paranoid about my privacy. If I cannot have privacy in my own hotel room, then where can I really expect any personal space at all?? I’m NOT okay with this kind of fanaticism and absolute invasion of privacy. Please respect people’s privacy and not treat them as a commodity for entertainment.”
The hotel apologised for the incident and said “the individuals involved have been stood down and removed from the Crown account”, ESPNCricinfo reported.
“We unreservedly apologise to the guest involved and will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure this remains an isolated incident,” the hotel management said in a statement.
It said immediate steps were taken to rectify the issue and that the original video was removed from the social media platform. It also said an investigation was underway and it was cooperating with the Indian cricket team and the International cricket Council (ICC) to convey its apologies and promised to cooperate with the investigation process.
The ICC said it was “incredibly disappointed by the gross invasion of privacy” that Kohli had suffered. “We continue to work with event hotels and security providers to ensure that this remains an isolated incident and player privacy is fully respected at all times,” it added.
Australia cricketer David Warner responded to Kohli’s post saying “This is ridiculous, totally unacceptable”.
In the past, Kohli has said that he found more privacy and personal space when touring abroad and that the players could walk on the streets without getting mobbed by fans, something which is not uncommon in India.
Earlier this month, an irked Kohli was seen warning fans against shouting as they were seen yelling “out of the stadium” from behind as the India batter was batting at the nets. He said that caused distraction.
Kohli’s wife Anushka Sharma, a film personality, was upset with the hotel breach incident and posted on Instagram saying, “Have experienced a few incidents where some fans have shown no compassion or grace in the past but this really is the worst thing. An absolute disgrace and violation of a human being and anyone who sees this and thinks celebrity ho toh deal Karna padega (If you are a celebrity then you will have to deal with this) should know that you are also part of the problem. Exercising some self control helps everyone. Also, if this is happening in your bedroom then where is the line?”
Fans also slammed such an act and wanted the video to be removed from the social media platform.
“This is so so cheap behaviour,” an user said.
Another wrote, “Manager ki naukri pakki gayi (manager is losing their job).
“This is really disgusting to instrude in one’s privacy, whether they r celebs or a common person,” said another.
