Bollywood star Anushka Sharma’s presence in a photo of the Indian Cricket Team kicked up a controversy as some irked cricket fans questioned her presence at an official event.
Sharma - the wife of Indian skipper Virat Kohli -joined the team for a dinner hosted by India’s High Commissioner in London on Tuesday night.
After the BCCI shared the picture on social media, many asked whether it was right for the Bollywood actor to attend the event when wives of other players refrained from it.
Many cricket fans also objected to the place where she stood in the picture, where they believed Indian vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane should have been who was relegated in the back row.
She returned to India on Wednesday after staying with the team during the entire One Day series last month. She was also present in the stands when Virat Kohli scored a century in the first Test against England that the host team won.
The Quint reported quoting sources in the Indian Cricket team that the wives and families of cricketers were asked to “stay away” until the end of the third Test.
Wives of other crickets, including Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, R Ashwin and Umesh Yadav were present in London on Tuesday night but did not accept the invite for the dinner at the Indian High Commission.
According to reports in the Indian media, the BCCI later clarified that Anushka Sharma’s presence at the dinner did not violate protocol.
This is not the first time when Anushka Sharma has come in the crosshairs of Twitterati. Virat Kohli had to come out in defence of his then rumoured girlfriend in 2016 after Sharma was trolled while Virat was playing the T20 Cricket World Cup. The two at that time had broken.
The couple was also recently involved in another controversy when they shared a video of a man littering the streets of Mumbai.
A video shared by the Indian captain showed his wife taking to task a man who accused them of abusing their power.
