Virat Kohli's Instagram goes missing for hours, reactivated later; fans panic, memes flood over Meta glitch

Star cricketer Virat Kohli once again set social media into a frenzy, and no, this time he didn't announce any retirement, nor did he travel back to India. But on Tuesday past midnight, eagle-eyed fans noticed Virat Kohli's official account had disappeared.

Virat's official Instagram account, which boasts a whopping 274 million followers, suddenly became inaccessible, leaving millions of fans wondering whether the profile was deleted, deactivated, or temporarily suspended.

Users attempting to visit Kohli's verified handle were met with an error message stating that the page was unavailable. Attempts to access @virat.kohli returned the standard messages: "This page isn't available" or The link may be broken.

Fans breathed a sigh of relief on Friday morning when, following a brief disappearance, his account was restored and is now visible.

The unexpected development quickly triggered a wave of speculation, especially given Kohli's massive global following and his reputation as one of the most active athletes on social media.

Within minutes of the account vanishing, hashtags related to Kohli began trending across platforms. Supporters flooded X and fan forums with screenshots and theories, ranging from a possible voluntary break from social media to a technical issue on Instagram's end. Some even speculated about a hacking incident, though there has been no evidence to support such claims.

Meta glitch, viral penguin-walking-away trend or merely digital detox? Fans can't get over Virat's temporary Instagram account deactivation

During Virat's Instagram disappearance, fans turned to his wife, actor Anushka Sharma. Her recent posts were quickly repurposed as a community helpdesk, with comments ranging from the desperate to the hilarious.

Many even suggested it was a digital detox, and shared sharing monatges of compiled reels of Virat's earlier statements. 

Many even commented on Anushka's account, by writing,  "Bhaabhi, bhaiya ka account kahan gaya?" loosely translating to, "Where has brother's account gone?"

While neither Meta nor Kohli's management team has released a statement, fans linked the Nihilist Penguin meme, showing a penguin walking off into the distance after bief dissaperncae of Virat from Instagram.

Some argued that it was a technical glitch or merely a deliberate walk off the internet. However, many are of the view that it was indeed a technical glitch by Meta, with memes galore still flooding social media.

Not just Virat Kohli's brother Vikas Kohli's Instagram account was also temporarily unavailable, with users encountering the same profile isn't available message.

This is how much does Virat Kohli earn per Instagram post?

Virat Kohli is not only India's biggest cricket star on Instagram but also the most-followed cricketer globally.

While there is no official disclosure of his social media earnings, multiple industry reports claim that Kohli charges anywhere between Rs 9 crore and Rs 14 crore for a single sponsored Instagram post. The base fee reportedly starts at the lower end and increases depending on the brand and campaign.

Given Virat Kohli's commercial value, an extended absence from Instagram could have been extremely costly. Virat typically posts at least two sponsored collaborations each month, meaning a prolonged deactivation could have resulted in losses of Rs 20–25 crore per month. Fortunately, the account was restored within hours, avoiding any long-term financial fallout.

Possible reasons why his Instagram account was temporaryily disappearanced

The exact reason behind Virat's Instagram account's temporary disappearance remains unclear. Some reports suggest it may have been a strategic move ahead of a potential relaunch of Virat Kohli's One8 brand with Agilitas, especially following his split with sportswear giant PUMA. However, the former India captain has not issued any official statement explaining the incident.