Cricket fans in India took social networking platforms by storm as Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli, viewed as one of the most prolific batsmen in international cricket by many, turned 31 on Tuesday.
Fans along with cricketing stars including the legendary Tendulkar, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag, Shikhar Dhawan and coach Ravi Shastri among others broke the internet with sentimental wishes for the birthday boy who is fondly called “Chiku” by friends, family and fans.
With nearly 400,000 mentions, #HappyBirthdayViratKohli is trending on Twitter in India. Other hashtags like #HBDViratKohli, #HappyBirthdayChiku and #KingKohli are also floating on social media.
Meanwhile, Kohli took off to the mountains for a birthday vacation with his wife and top Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma.
On his birthday, the right-handed batsmen gave fans a peek into his emotional side as he penned a letter to his 15-year self and shared it on Twitter.
In the letter, Kohli reminded his younger self to love his late father Prem Kohli and to relish home-made food when he has the time.
Within three hours of its posting, the emotional letter has already evoked nearly 10,000 re-tweets and over 62,000 likes.
Anushka also shared insights of her trip with her husband on his special day in a series of tweets.
Currently, the Indian captain was rested from the ongoing three-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series against Bangladesh in New Delhi.
Kohli will be back on the cricket field when India hosts Bangladesh for a two-match Test series, starting 14 November in the snack-city of central India - Indore.