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After a frantic few hours for his 274 million followers, Virat Kohli’s Instagram account was officially restored on Friday, January 30, 2026, around 8:30 AM IST.
The account’s temporary disappearance triggered a massive wave of panic on social media, with fans speculating everything from a “digital detox” to a shock retirement announcement. However, with the profile back online and all 1,044 posts intact, the “King” is officially back in the digital space.
The “Vanishing Act”: Timeline & Theories
The mystery began late Thursday night when users searching for @virat.kohli were met with “User Not Found” or “Page Not Available” error messages.
- Coincidence or Glitch? Fans noted that Kohli’s elder brother, Vikas Kohli, also saw his account disappear at the same time. While Virat’s profile is back, Vikas’s account remained inaccessible as of Friday morning.
- The “Retirement” Scare: Due to Kohli’s previous comments about “vanishing for a while” once his career ends, X (formerly Twitter) was flooded with retirement rumors. Trade experts, however, suggest it was likely a technical glitch or a security-related temporary deactivation.
- Global Influence: The outage occurred just days after analytics firm HypeAuditor ranked Kohli as the world’s second-most influential Instagram personality for January 2026, trailing only Cristiano Ronaldo.
On-Field Update: The Number 1 Battle
While his social media was “down,” Kohli’s rankings have been in a “flicker” of their own:
- The Century Surge: In his last seven ODI innings, Kohli has been in “God Mode,” scoring three centuries and three half-centuries.
- The Ranking Slip: Despite his form, Kohli was recently dethroned from the No. 1 ICC ODI Batting spot by New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell, who had a historic series against India (352 runs in 3 matches).
- Next Stop: Kohli is currently in London with his family (Anushka Sharma and their children) and will return to India for IPL 2026, where he will lead the charge for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).