Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli recently became fodder for memes after his teammate from the IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore, Shivam Dube, shared photos of himself bursting phooljadis and anars even after Virat urged everyone not to in a video.
Happy Diwali 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/USLnZnMwzT
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) November 14, 2020
Now, people online have been calling Virat a ‘hypocrite’ after a video of crackers being burst on his birthday surfaced on the internet.
It all happened when the official Instagram handle of the IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) shared a birthday video of Virat. In the clip, one can see crackers being burst somewhere in Dubai right before Kohli and wife Anushka Sharma are about to cut his birthday cake.
Happy Birthday Captain Kohli
Happy faces and positive vibes. The RCB family put together a special video to celebrate King Kohli’s birthday at 12 midnight. 🤴🏽❤️#PlayBold #IPL2020 #WeAreChallengers #Dream11IPL pic.twitter.com/ViaI9eItDV
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) November 5, 2020
Twitterati didn’t take the video in good spirits and furiously schooled the captain for not practicing what he preached.
Hypocrisy at its height…. https://t.co/YPRZG8ixAp
— Shrirang Patil (@ShrirangPatil16) November 15, 2020
Such a shame https://t.co/WiSFuSXSCt
— Sweta Suman (@Swetasunshine01) November 15, 2020
Why this confusion? https://t.co/JS2vUjZP9s
— Pradeepmarate (@Pradeepmarate3) November 15, 2020
That's in a different country it's okay to pollute UAE 😂
.#IStandWithVirat https://t.co/bfl1yynAde— Dhwarakesh (@_dhwarakesh) November 14, 2020
Sleeping Hypocrites. Sad https://t.co/Q6xcVq0xpY
— Kalishnikov Karma (@KarmaNikov) November 14, 2020
Bursting crackers release oxygen on the occassions like new year birthday celebration except diwali https://t.co/eQEMwi0Q4l
— Shradha Shiwani (@im_shradha) November 14, 2020
His reaction is quite shocking, also he doesn’t burn crackers in his birthday by his own … that his fans doing not him. Who wants to celebrate his birthday.
— Blink & Bloom Event (@blinknbloom) November 14, 2020
Woh dubai hai and virat ne nahi kiya tha woh it was a surprise for his birthday he doesn’t knew at all !!! Chal bhaag ab chutiye
— Ranbir Kapoor FC (@RanbirKapoorF15) November 14, 2020
Some even highlighted how crackers have been an integral part of the celebrations during several cricketing tournaments.
We would burst crackers. Why the hell fireworks happen after a team’s victory? Who are you to sermonise how we should celebrate our festivals? #DiwaliCelebration2020 #kohliisanidiot https://t.co/c4kh6h5Tjt
— Bulls Eye (@sreeramjvc) November 15, 2020
He has the guts to preach Ambani, IPL organisers and other players!!? pic.twitter.com/ePBaZZJgCa
— Mrs AD ✏️ (@AshaDwarakanath) November 14, 2020
प्रदूषण केवल दीवाली के पटाखों से ही होता है । खैर मुंबई इंडियन ने अपनी जीत की खुशी बहुत पर्यावरण को ध्यान में रखते हुए मनाई थी 👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/ygYoEiLyKx
— Pawan Mehra (@pawanme3513) November 14, 2020
My reaction to VK: pic.twitter.com/YtVCuq69xL
— Ashish Anil Singh (@ashishsingh0612) November 14, 2020
— Dharm Pandey(SSRF) 🇮🇳 (@dharm_wanderer) November 14, 2020
Putting their side of the story on the stand, RCB clarified that the fireworks shown in the video was archival footage of UAE’s Flag Day celebrations.
Hope you are all enjoying a happy and peaceful Diwali with family and friends.🪔 To clarify, the fireworks shown in RCB’s recent celebratory video was archival footage of UAE's Flag Day celebrations. RCB continues to work hard to protect the environment like we’ve over the years.
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) November 16, 2020
Skipper Kohli will only play the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and will be absent from the rest three as he has been granted paternity leave to stay with Anushka to welcome their first child in January.
What are your opinions on the incident? Share with us.