A priest at the Ananta Vasudev Temple in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, has become an overnight internet sensation for his striking resemblance to Indian cricket icon Virat Kohli.
The fascinating story began with a video shared by a user named “Cricketer Sunil” on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
The video shows the serene and peaceful atmosphere of the Ananta Vasudev Temple and ends with a clip of a man distributing parasads.
The man, wearing a traditional Indian loin cloth and a moustache, bears a striking resemblance to Virat Kohli.
The post, which has been read more than 1.1 million times, was captioned with a humorous caption: “I am convincing myself that the man is not Virat Kohli.” The video was originally sourced from a YouTube video uploaded by Pratham Arora.
Social media users quickly jumped on the opportunity and added a comic twist to the farce. Comments ranged from witty comments like “bro finally becomes a pooja pather” to speculative jokes like “is Kohli really going to temple duty instead of going to England?”
Another user imagined that “in Puri, Virat Kohli is enjoying his retirement”, while another thought he looked like “Satish Ray with more weight and facial hair”.
To start with the background, Virat Kohli announced his retirement from Tests on May 12. His illustrious career has seen him firmly establish himself as India’s fourth-highest Test scorer, amassing 9,230 runs in 123 matches and maintaining a high strike rate of over 55 between 2016 and 2019.
Kohli’s contribution is often credited with rekindling interest in Tests. Today, he is focusing on helping RCB defeat PKBS in the first round of the qualifiers and finally lift the 2025 Indian Premier League trophy.
