NEW DELHI: Virat Kohli fans woke up on Friday morning to a piece of news that left them scratching their heads, as the Indian cricket legend's Instagram account was suddenly deactivated. With more than 274 million followers, Kohli is among the most followed personalities on the platform.

Among athletes, Kohli sits third on the followers' chart, behind only football greats Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

The unexpected move has naturally left fans worried. Many have taken to the Instagram account of his wife, actor Anushka Sharma, filling the comments with messages asking if everything is alright and hoping to understand what's going on with the former India captain.

The account's absence came to light in the early hours of Friday, when users trying to open @virat.kohli found it inaccessible and were greeted with the usual error messages instead of his profile: "This page isn't available" or "The link may be broken." Virat has not responded on the matter so far on his X handle.

With no word yet from Kohli's team or from Meta, the sudden blackout has sparked a flood of theories online.

True to internet form, the episode has also taken a humorous turn. Some fans have tied the deactivation to the viral "Nihilist Penguin" meme, jokingly suggesting Kohli has had enough of the online chaos and quietly logged off.

Screenshots of his blank profile have been shared alongside the penguin "walking away" memes, turning confusion into comedy across social media.