Unreasonable: Virat Kohli’s team denies taking Rs 5 crore to visit Premanand’s ashram
Former Indian captain Virat Kohli’s spokesperson has denied claims that the cricketer was paid Rs 5 crore for visiting spiritual leader Premanand Maharaj’s ashram in Vrindavan.
The statement comes after allegations against Dinesh Sharma, popularly known as Falahari Maharaj, surfaced in the news and on social media. Sharma, who is the president of Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Sangharsh Nyas, claimed that Rs 5 crore was spent to bring Kohli to the Premanand Maharaj ashram.
The allegation has not been independently verified. No publicly available payment record, contract or other evidence has emerged to show that Kohli received 5 million rupees for visiting the ashram.
Responding to the claim, Kohli’s spokesperson said the allegations were “completely false, baseless and factually incorrect”.
“We would like to categorically state that the allegations made by Falahari Maharaj Dinesh Sharma regarding Mr. Virat Kohli are completely false, baseless and factually incorrect,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also said that Kohli’s visits to Premanand Maharaj were motivated by his personal faith and respect for the spiritual leader.
“Mr. Virat Kohli is visiting Premanand Maharaj Ji purely out of his deep faith and respect for Maharaj Ji,” the statement said.
Kohli and his wife, actor Anushka Sharma, they visited Premanand Maharaj in Vrindavan on several occasions. Their first reported visit to the spiritual leader took place in January 2023, and the couple subsequently returned to the ashram several times.
On the cricket front, Kohli recently returned to ODI action in India’s three-match series against the West Indies. He started the series with an unbeaten 139 in Thiruvananthapuram, an innings that took him past 15,000 ODI runs and made him only the second batsman after Sachin Tendulkar to reach the milestone.
Kohli followed it up with a score of 29 and a duck in the next two ODIs. India won the first two matches but lost the third by five wickets in New Chandigarh, allowing the West Indies to avoid the limelight series. In three games, Kohli scored 168 runs.
His next ODI assignment is expected to be India’s tour of New Zealand in November. The five-match ODI series is scheduled to begin in Auckland on November 4, with the other matches being in Wellington, Hamilton and Mount Maunganui. The tour will also include five T20Is and two Tests.
Kohli, who has retired from T20I and Test cricket, is now focusing on the 50-over format and has hinted that the 2027 ODI World Cup will be his last World Cup for India.
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