Zlatan Ibrahimovic doesn’t recognise Virat Kohli despite his massive social media following

Virat Kohli is the most followed Indian celebrity on social media, with over 350 million followers combined on Instagram and X, and yet former footballing great Zlatan Ibrahimovic doesn’t recognise him. As strange as it may sound, it’s true! Although from Cristiano Ronaldo to the Brazilian striker Ronaldo Nazario, some great players know about the Indian cricket icon, Zlatan - with all due respect, as he said, admitted to never hearing of Kohli.

Well, the way you’re shocked, YouTuber ‘IShowSpeed’ was alsotaken aback when Zlatan replied to his question, ‘Do you know Virat Kohli?’

ALSO READ:India’s tour of Sri Lanka 2024: Pallekele to hosts T20Is, Colombo gets ODIs as schedule announced

Add WION as a Preferred Source

During a chat with perhaps the best Swedish player in the quarter of a century, Speed, as millions of his fans call him on social media, happened to ask Zlatan about Kohli, to which the footballer bluntly replied, ‘No’.

Here’s the complete conversation between Speedand Zlatan on Kohli –

Speed to Zlatan - “Do you know Virat Kohli?”
Zlatan -"No"
Speed - “You don’t know Virat Kohli? You never seen him before?”
Zlatan - “I have never seen cricket in my life. Not being disrespectful, but no.”
Speed - “He's (Kohli) a GOAT. He’s the GOAT.”
Zlatan - “So you like cricket also?”
Speed - “Yes, I do. He’s the GOAT in different aspect.”

WATCH VIDEO -

Meanwhile, Speed is a hardcore Cristiano Ronaldo fan, and with time, following his engagement with Indian fans on social media, has got a taste of how big cricket is in the country and who is the one sitting at the tip of this sport.

Over the past several months, Speed was recorded mentioning Virat Kohli’s name in most of his videos, indicating his awareness of Kohli’s game both on and off the field.

However, even during the recently concluded 2024 T20 World Cup in the Americas, Speed was in New York to watch the marquee India vs Pakistan Group Stage game. Kohli’s newest fan also showed remorse on his favourite cricketer’s dismissal early in the first innings, the video of which is available on his X account.

Virat says goodbye to T20Is

Following winning the T20 World Cup Final against South Africa in Barbados on June 29, Kohli – the Player of the Match for his brilliant 76 runs, announced his retirement from the shortest format, with Captain Rohit Sharma and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja also doing the same.

After the tournament, Kohli, alongside Team India, landed in the country and celebrated with the millions on the streets before flying to London, UK, to see his wife and babies.

Per the latest reports, Kohli would be rested for the Sri Lanka series, as the home Tests against Bangladesh could be his comeback series.