Virat Kohli back on Instagram, fans breathe easy and Anushka gets a break

India cricketer Virat Kohli's Instagram account became active again after disappearing overnight. Kohli's verified Instagram account, followed by over 270 million users, had suddenly disappeared from the platform on January 30.

India cricketer Virat Kohli’s Instagram account was restored on Friday morning after mysteriously disappearing overnight on January 30. One of the most-followed athletes in the world, Kohli’s sudden absence from the platform triggered widespread speculation and concern among fans.

Notably, it was not just Kohli’s account that went missing. His brother Vikas Kohli’s Instagram profile was also found to be deactivated around the same time. While Virat’s account reappeared at approximately 8:30 am, Vikas Kohli’s account remained inactive at the time of writing.

There has been no official clarification from Kohli, his management team, or Instagram on whether the disappearance was deliberate or the result of a technical glitch.

The brief blackout sent Kohli’s fanbase into a frenzy overnight. Social media platforms were flooded with reactions ranging from genuine concern to comic disbelief, with fans tagging Instagram’s official handle and demanding answers over the missing profile.

Some fans even took to actor Anushka Sharma’s Instagram page, leaving humorous comments such as, “Bhaabhi, bhaiya ka account kahan gaya?”, loosely translating to, “Where has brother’s account gone?”

As speculation gathered pace, memes soon took over. Several users linked Kohli’s Instagram disappearance to the recent viral “missing penguin” trend that had briefly dominated social media timelines. Posts jokingly suggested that 2026 was turning into a year of unexplained vanishings, pairing screenshots of Kohli’s unavailable profile with images of the penguin, implying that both had “walked off the internet without explanation.”