Virat Kohli Picture Credit: BCCI
Mobile phone company Vivo has put on hold all its advertisements featuring Virat Kohli amid the money laundering investigation initiated by the Enforcement Directorate against the Chinese smartphone brand. This implies that the advertisements will not appear either on television or social media until there is clarity on which way the investigation is heading.
The news was confirmed by a report carried out by a credible media organisation. An unnamed executive close to the development has been cited as a source in that report. The report further confirms that even Virat Kohli's team was not very keen on his name being associated with the company until the case is resolved.
"This is also to protect Virat from criticism," a second executive was quoted as saying in this Economic Times report.
As far as Kohli's cricketing assignments are concerned, he is currently part of the white-ball squad playing against England. The former India captain did feature in India's playing XI in the second T20I but failed to leave an impact with the bat getting out for 1 off 3 balls.
With his poor form continuing and other players pushing for a place in the side, Virat will be more desperate than ever before to get a big score under his belt. While he has another T20I and the ODI series against England, he has not been named for the ODIs against West Indies.
Several cricket pundits including commentator Harsha Bhogle believe that ODIs could be the perfect format for Kohli to find his missing form. This is because in the 50-overs format Kohli can take a bit more time plus there will not be the kind of challenges that the red-ball poses.
In this context, the upcoming 4 white-ball matches (1 T20I and 3 ODIs) can be significant in deciding the fate of the remainder of Kohli's career.