[Watch] Virat Kohli’s fans carve out Indian legend’s beautiful imagery on sand after IND vs PAK Asia Cup showdown

Virat Kohli is one the most popular cricketers in the world and his fandom crosses boundaries. In fact, he is the most followed cricketer on social media, with 257 million followers alone on Instagram.

On Sunday, September 3, the sand artists from Pakistan’s Balochistan gave Kohli a tribute by carving his image. The development comes a day after the India-Pakistan showdown in the ongoing 2023 Asia Cup.

Watch Virat Kohli's beautiful sand art below:

On the professional front, Kohli failed to deliver for the Men in Blue in the high-voltage game. The right-handed batter departed for just four runs off seven balls. The 34-year-old chopped onto the stumps against left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi, who took a 4-fer in the contest.

India set a 267-run target for Pakistan but the match was called off due to rain.

Kohli’s failure came even though he had over 500 runs in 13 ODIs against Pakistan, including two tons with a best score of 183*.

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Virat Kohli is on the verge of completing 13,000 runs in ODIs

Virat Kohli, meanwhile, is on the verge of completing 13,000 runs in ODIs. The Delhi-born player needs 98 more runs to become the fastest to reach the landmark. He has amassed 12,902 runs in 166 innings so far. Sachin Tendulkar currently holds the record for fastest 13,000 runs, having reached the feat in 321 innings.

Kohli, though, is still behind Sanath Jayasuriya (13.430), Ricky Ponting (13,704), Kumar Sangakkara (14,234), and Tendulkar (18426) for most runs in ODIs.

Kohli will next be in action against Nepal in the upcoming Asia Cup game at Pallekele in Sri Lanka on Monday, September 4. He will look to score big against the associate ICC member as Team India eye a place in the Super 4 in their hope of winning their eighth Asia Cup trophy.

A century will help Kohli (46 hundreds) close the gap for most tons in the 50-over format, held by Sachin Tendulkar (49 centuries).