"Very painful to see our idol getting old" - Fans react as picture of Virat Kohli's greying beard goes viral on social media

Former India captain Virat Kohli recently posed for a picture with Shash Kiran, a London-based entrepreneur. The star cricketer was spotted wearing a grey t-shirt along with a black hooded jacket and a cap.

Interestingly, it was not Kohli's casual style that caught the attention of the fans. The 36-year-old's supporters were quick to notice his greying beard. The photograph went viral on social media due to the ace batter's never-before-seen look.

While Kohli has sported a salt-and-pepper look in the past as well, his beard appeared visibly a lot greyer than before in the aforementioned picture.

Several fans expressed concern about seeing the champion cricketer growing old. Here are some of the top reactions on X:

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@Was_abhi18

White beard, dimming fire, and tired eyes. Yes, that’s Virat Kohli in his latest pic from London. The King has begun to lay down his sword… We've probably reached the ending we never wanted to see! 💔

Vaishnav

@VaishnavSharan7

@academy_dinda Very painful to see our idol getting old.

alonexf1🇮🇳

@alonexf1

@Was_abhi18 The time is now We are in the end game 💔😭

JinxXed

@jinxXedhere

@mufaddal_vohra How come Kohli looks this old just a few months after retiring?

Sachidanand Menon

@Sachida72117650

@mufaddal_vohra Lot of grey . Come back for the ODI and let us see that 6 over the bowlers head once again .

Shivani❤️

@shivi1251

@mufaddal_vohra The end is near for those fans too who were just happy with his presence in just one format. Good luck all y’all.

Meanwhile, a few fans also saw the funny side of Kohli's greying beard and came up with some witty reactions.

"Is that snow or white beard," wrote a fan.

"Bhai itni safed toh Amitabh Bachchan bhi nahi rakhta (Brother even Amitabh Bachchan doesn't keep such a grey beard)," joked another.

"The love for test cricket can be seen at the color of his beard," chimed in yet another.

On the cricketing front, Virat Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket earlier this year in May. Previously, he drew the curtains on his T20I career following India's 2024 T20 World Cup triumph.

The seasoned campaigner is expected to continue playing ODIs for the Men in Blue. He was last seen in action during the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL).

He was the leading run-scorer for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) as they clinched their maiden IPL title. The veteran batter finished with 657 runs across 15 innings at an average of 54.75.

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"You know it's time when you are colouring your beard every four days" - Virat Kohli's hilarious take on his Test retirement

Virat Kohli attended a charity dinner in London last month. The event was organized by his former teammate, Yuvraj Singh, to raise funds for his foundation, 'YouWeCan'.

At the dinner, Kohli joked that he knew it was time to retire from Test cricket as he now needed to color his beard every four days. He said (via Times of India):

"I just coloured my beard two days ago. You know it's time when you are colouring your beard every four days."

Virat Kohli ended his Test career with 9,230 runs from 210 innings at an average of 46.85. He struck 30 hundreds and 31 fifties in the format. He remains India's most successful Test captain, with 40 wins from 68 matches.