Watch: Virat Kohli arrives in Mumbai to meet Lionel Messi? Visuals spark speculation

It was just a few days ago when Virat Kohli left India to return to the United Kingdom to spend some time with his family post the end of the three-match ODI series against South Africa at home. The right-handed batter was in tremendous touch with the bat, scoring 302 runs in three innings at an average of over 100, thanks to two centuries and one unbeaten half-century.

On December 13, Virat Kohli returned to Mumbai with his wife, the famous Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma, as they were spotted outside the airport, with the video going viral on social media platforms. Many have started to speculate whether the Delhi batter has arrived to meet the star Footballer, Lionel Messi, who arrived in India after 14 years in his three-day stay in this country.

Messi arrived early in the morning at 2 on December 13 in Kolkata before he went through the Salt Lake Stadium, where he stayed for around 20 minutes amidst the lakhs of fans, who came to see their idol and favorite player. The legendary footballer left Kolkata in the afternoon before arriving in Hyderabad.

Virat Kohli arrives in Mumbai amidst speculation of meeting Lionel Messi

However, it’s not that Kohli has returned India to meet Messi. The former Indian captain is expected to start his preparation for the start of the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) 2025/26, where he will feature in a couple of games for the Delhi side at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, as the Delhi District and Cricket Association confirmed.

Watch the video here:

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made it mandatory for the national players to feature in the domestic games if they are not playing for India, and that’s the same thing that has happened with Kohli who will now need to go through those couple of games of the VHT before featuring in the upcoming three-match New Zealand series earlier next year.

Kohli was not in great touch during the previous away series against Australia, where he managed two ducks before getting an unbeaten half-century in Sydney. But he silenced the doubts with the fabulous South Africa series to keep voting for his place in the 2027 ODI World Cup.