Virat Kohli blocked me on Instagram: Glenn Maxwell
Virat Kohli blocked me on Instagram: Glenn Maxwell
Glenn Maxwell remembers the moment he discovered that Virat Kohli had blocked him on Instagram.
Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell are friends today, but their relationship was once quite strained. Before they became teammates, an incident occurred between Kohli and Maxwell that led Kohli to block Maxwell on Instagram four years prior.
Kohli was displeased with a specific action of Maxwell’s from the 2017 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
On the first day of the third Test in Ranchi, Kohli injured his shoulder while fielding. However, two days later, during Australia’s fielding stint, Maxwell mocked Kohli by mimicking him while holding his right shoulder.
During Australia’s tour of India, which became one of the hottest Test series ever, Maxwell made a pointed remark about Kohli. Tensions escalated on both sides as the series progressed. Memorable moments included Ishant Sharma’s exaggerated expressions directed at Steve Smith and the incident where the former Australian captain momentarily lost focus and sought advice from the dressing room regarding a DRS call.
Kohli and Maxwell’s friendship was not strong until Maxwell joined the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2021 for an impressive Rs 14.25 crore. Maxwell revealed that he attempted to follow Kohli on Instagram, only to find out that he had been blocked by the former Indian captain.
Maxwell, the Australian all-rounder, disclosed in his newly published book ‘The Showman’ that Kohli advocated for his inclusion in the Royal Challengers Bengaluru team following his tumultuous stint with Punjab Kings. He expressed gratitude to the former RCB captain for his backing.
“When I knew that I was going to RCB, Virat was the first guy to message me and welcome me to the team. When I turned up for the pre-IPL training camp, we obviously got chatting and spent a fair bit of time training together as you do. So I go to his social media, follow him. Didn’t even think about it before that. Never really crossed my mind. I was like ‘I can’t find him. I’m sure he’s on social media somewhere so I didn’t think anything of it. Not really that maybe he wasn’t savvy with Instagram. Didn’t really understand why he wasn’t coming up and then someone mentioned that he might have blocked you. That is the only way you’re not able to find him. I was like surely not,” says maxwell.
“I went and asked him ‘Have you blocked me on Instagram?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah probably. It was when you mocked me during that Test match. I think I got the sh*** and decided to block you. I was like ‘yeah, that’s fair enough’. So yeah, he ended up unblocking me, and we became great friends after that,” informs Maxwell.
Kohli and Maxwell have softened with time, which is quite natural. After sharing various similar experiences, these two stars from their nations have formed a strong connection in multiple aspects.
