Kohli insists on having more privacy when not playing

Virat Kohli has never seemed more aware of the cost of constant visibility. In an era where every net session becomes content, every interaction a meme template, and every gesture an opportunity for viral dissection, Kohli’s latest remarks offer a glimpse into the exhaustion elite athletes increasingly feel under perpetual surveillance.

“As a sportsperson, you need to have the ability and freedom to work on your game in peace. If everything you do is an opportunity to film, display or dissect, then you are not organic,” Kohli said on the RCB podcast.

“I’m not going to be able to try to do things at practice, which I really want to do because I know tomorrow someone films it and there are discussions on my practice sessions,” he said.

“You judge me on my performances during the game. During the lead-up, no one has the right to judge me for what I’m doing in terms of my preparation, the things I’m trying in the nets,” he said.

Kohli also suggested that teams and tournament ecosystems need to establish clearer boundaries around player access and content creation.

“I just feel there has to be a bit more streamlining in terms of understanding how much to do and when to do it. Is the player okay with being filmed at all times? Those kinds of things really need to be taken into account because they get too much,” he added.

For players, however, experimentation in the nets is often messy by design. Techniques are tested, routines altered, flaws exposed. Kohli’s concern is that the presence of cameras can discourage the very vulnerability required for improvement.

He illustrated that discomfort with a recent anecdote involving former New Zealand captain Kane Williamson.

“The other day, I was talking to Kane, and there’s that robot like doing,” Kohli said, mimicking its movement. “I just thought, ‘Why is it doing that?’ Here I am speaking to Kane about something serious.”

Kohli said he eventually asked for the device to be moved away.

“So I looked at him, and I ignored him. Then I told the guy operating it, ‘Please take him away.’ Let me talk in peace,” he said.

For Kohli, the moment reflected a deeper problem: even genuine human interactions are increasingly repackaged into consumable internet moments.

“Kane is my friend; we have known each other since our U-19 days, and we can’t have a conversation with him without it becoming a moment of Kane mama and Virat,” he said.

Published on May 16, 2026