The price of being Virat Kohli: He must justify every activity, even a 'like' on Instagram

In today’s sociotechnical world, the line between public and private life has become increasingly blurred — especially for celebrities. The recent incident involving Indian cricket star Virat Kohli and Bollywood actress Avneet Kaur is a perfect example of how we, as a society, often overstep that line in the name of curiosity and entertainment.

What started as a passing social media exchange — Kohli reportedly liking Avneet Kaur's — escalated into a full-blown online storm. Speculations, theories, and unwarranted conclusions soon followed. Kaur's presence at an ICC Champions Trophy match only fueled the rumor further, with some attributing her presence to another cricketer. And just like that, an entire narrative was fabricated from what amounts to… essentially nothing.

Let’s take a step back and ask: Why was this a big deal?

When Kohli broke his silence about the incident, he said it was a basic glitch. By that time, however, damage had been done. Avneet Kaur, who had not even uttered a word regarding the issue, became the talk of the town. She was either being tattletaled about romantically or criticised for trying to make headlines. None of these things is justified. And none of these should be normalised.

Virat's Instagram story after incident:

At the root of this debate is a greater concern: Our growing comfort level with snooping on individuals' personal lives, particularly if those individuals are celebrities. Somehow, a great number of fans assume that fame somehow gives the public the right to look into every aspect of their life. But adoration should not be translated as intrusion. Just because someone is famous doesn't mean they need to explain to us every click, sighting, or snippet of their life. 

There's also the toxic culture of assumptions we create online. An Instagram like is now a statement of intent. A public sighting close to another celebrity must be implying a relationship. We are too hasty to link non-existent dots, and too often we do so without even thinking about the emotional and reputational fallout for the people involved. Worse still, this speculative activity is too often framed as entertainment or fandom.

Kohli and Kaur, like everyone else, have complete control over their actions, relationships, and online presence. They can associate with whoever they please, go wherever they please, and say whatever they please without their lives being read as if every movement has some ulterior motive. The fact that we still scramble to analyse these mundane actions as newsworthy occurrences is an issue.

In an era of never-ending content and continuous updates, perhaps it's time to make letting go the new normal. Perhaps a liked post is simply that — a liked post. Perhaps two individuals attending the same location doesn't have to spark a thousand articles. Perhaps, people should be allowed to live their lives without the rest of us making it into a production.

Let's not create something out of nothing. Let's give others the space they are entitled to. Most importantly, let's not forget that being privy to someone's public life does not entitle us to redo their personal one.

Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.