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Virat Kohli says posting on social media proved too much for him and he instead wants to spend that time on his life and cricket.
Virat Kohli (left) says he’s deliberately stopped posting on social media. (IG/virat.kohli)
A cursory look at Virat Kohli‘s social media accounts indicates that the batting superstar no longer shares personal updates and instead is focused on promoting brands he endorses. Every time Kohli shares a promotional post these days, the comments section inevitable is littered with complaints with the batting maestro only posting ads.
‘Times Square of Instagram’, ‘Adgram’ are among the various names users have been frequently using to express their frustration at the cricketer consistently pushing ads through his social media accounts.
Few even complained why Kohli didn’t post anything related to India’s historic Champions Trophy triumph in Dubai.
While Kohli is within his rights to utilise his social presence in any manner he wants to, the former India captain has offered some explanation.
“Posting about us winning the Champions Trophy is not going to increase the happiness in my heart. They all know that we’ve won the trophy, so me posting about it is not going to give us two trophies. The reality is going to stay the same,” Kohli said at an RCB event recently.
Digging deeper into his absence, Kohli revealed that it has been a conscious decision on his part to deliberately step away from social media as it became “way too much” to keep up with.
“Technology when not attached to a goal can be quite distracting. It is something I have experienced in my playing career. Luckily, I grew up in a time when you didn’t have this thing in your pocket (smartphone). It is much easier to keep it on the side,” Kohli said.
“I don’t engage and post a lot these days and people are not happy about that. It is something that I have consciously tried to do. To keep up with that for me was way too much. It was taking away a lot of energy from me because I could utilise that in my game or life,” he added.
Kohli is the third most followed sportsperson on Instagram with 270 million followers after Cristiano Ronaldo (650 million) and Lionel Messi (504 million).