Indian cricket superstar Virat Kohli has shared some disturbing footage of his hotel room.
In the footage, labeled ‘King Kohli’s Hotel Room’, it can be seen that a stranger in a dark suit is recording a video covering every inch of the room showcasing Kohli’s belongings.
On the table one can see small statues of God kept on a cloth along with his glasses, cap, and watch. The camera shows his footwear neatly kept in the corner, followed by his suitcase with Indian jerseys and medicines.
There is a second person present too when the video was shot, but the vision doesn’t show the faces of both men.
In a statement on Instagram, 33-year-old Kohli said:
“I understand that fans get very happy and excited seeing their favourite players and get excited to meet them and I’ve always appreciated that. But this video here is appalling and it’s made me feel very paranoid about my privacy. If I cannot have privacy in my own hotel room, then where can I really expect any personal space at all? I’m NOT okay with this kind of fanaticism and absolute invasion of privacy. Please respect people’s privacy and not treat them as a commodity for entertainment.”
Virat Kohli’s wife and Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma strongly reacted to the post in a story and wrote:
“Have experienced a few incidents where some fans have shown no compassion or grace in the past but this really is the worst thing. An absolute disgrace and violation of a human being and anyone who sees this and thinks celebrity ho toh deal Karna padega should know that you are also part of the problem. Exercising some self control helps everyone. Also, if this is happening in your bedroom then where is the line?”
Australian cricketer David Warner called this invasion of Kohli’s privacy “ridiculous, totally unacceptable.”
Crown Perth said in a statement that this particular incident occurred outside the T20 World Cup competition.
“We unreservedly apologise to the guest involved and will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure this remains an isolated incident. We have zero tolerance for this behaviour, and it falls well below the standards we set for our team members and contractors. Crown has taken immediate steps to rectify the issue. The individuals involved have been stood down and removed from the Crown account, and the original video was swiftly removed from the social media platform. Crown is conducting an investigation with the third-party contractor and will take any further steps necessary to ensure an incident of this nature does not happen again.”
Earlier, team India had complained about the quality of food offered to them at the hotel in Sydney. Vimal Kumar, an independent journalist travelling with Team India, told The Australia Today, “Number of players were not happy about the hotel arrangements in Melbourne. However, team management brushed it aside as one of the hiccups in such a busy schedule.”
Then a highly placed source within T20 organising administration told The Australia Today that there has been no issue with any hotels team India has used or will be using in the next few weeks.
Both BCCI and ICC are yet to issue an official statement regarding the invasion of Virat Kohli’s privacy.
