When Anushka Sharma Was Called 'Bad Omen', 'Unlucky' For Husband Virat Kohli's Poor Performance

Anushka Sharma has been a victim of online trolling and hate since she started dating Indian cricketer Virat Kohli. The Zero actress has often been blamed for Kohli's 'poor performance'. On January 3, something similar happened, like always Anushka was present in the stadium to cheer for her husband Virat Kohli during the 5th Test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. However, after the cricketer made 17 runs in 69 balls, his wicket fell with netizens pointing out his poor performance due to repeated early dismissals.

Kohli's recent early dismissal reminded us how netizens used to brutally troll Anushka Sharma, forcing the cricketer to come out in her support.

In 2014, netizens started trolling Anushka Sharma for Virat Kohli's poor performance

The trolling began in 2014 when the cricketer got out on a duck during a test series at Lord's Stadium in England. Soon after, X was flooded with netizens' reactions. One of the users wrote, "Virat Kohli fell too much in love with the new duck lips of Anushka Sharma that he did the same with his innings.”

The next year, during the ICC Cricket World Cup semi-final match, Kohli got out on his first ball. Seeing Anushka sitting in the stands, netizens quickly concluded that she was 'unclucky' or a 'bad omen' for Kohli.

In 2018, a year after the couple got married in 2017, Kohli failed to make runs in the first inning of the first test during the South Africa and India Test Series in Cape Town. The trolling was so merciless that Kohli had to step in to shut the trolls. He said, "Shame on people for trolling Anushka Sharma non-stop. Have some compassion. She has always only given me positivity.” Despite, Kohli's intervention, the trolls didn't stop and after a few months, they were back during the IPL season. When RCB lost to KKR, netizens blamed the actress for the team's loss.

In 2020, Kohli was dismissed for just 1 run during an IPL match against King XI Punjab, prompting Sunil Gavaskar to make a remark about the couple.

When Virat Kohli opened up about the trolls targeting Anushka Sharma for his performance

In 2023, Indian batter Surya Kumar Yadav interviewed Virat Kohli after the latter made a century in the first ODI of the year. Kohli talked about his poor performance for the past two years and how it affected his wife Anushka. He said, "Sometimes when your cricketing form is good, things glow well. But when there is a sudden dip, in my case, frustration started creeping inside me." He added, "Anushka, my close ones, anyone, it’s not fair on the people that support you that are with you all the time to keep seeing you in that space so I had to take responsibility and kind of put things in perspective."

Anushka and Virat had a quiet and intimate wedding in December 2017. The couple is now parents to two kids - a daughter Vamika and a son Akaay.