In early 2022, after stepping down as captain, he walked into the gym with a brutal, almost military-grade buzzcut. It was a statement of erasure. He was stripping away the "King Kohli" persona. No product, no parting, no style. Just stubble.
The old Virat—the spiky-haired, earring-dangling, brash Delhi lad with a retro faux-hawk—had been sacrificed. In his place emerged a king: the . High and tight on the sides, long and voluminous on top, paired with a meticulously sculpted, almost philosophical beard. It was the haircut of a CEO, a gladiator, a man who had decided to stop chasing records and start owning them.
"Bhaiya, Virat wala fade ," they would say. (Brother, the Virat fade.)
Market analysts estimated that Kohli’s hairstyle choices influenced a segment of the men’s grooming industry. Hair wax sales spiked 240% in the quarter following his 2017 transformation. The company "Beardo" saw its valuation soar, partially because Kohli’s beard became the national benchmark. He didn’t just cut his hair; he moved markets. The Anushka Effect & The Digital Meltdown No story about Kohli’s hair is complete without the silent curator: Anushka Sharma. In 2019, during a lockdown in Australia, Kohli appeared on Instagram Live. His hair was longer, curly, almost shaggy—a radical departure from the militant fade. The internet broke.
The "Kohli Cut" became a SKU—a stock-keeping unit. In Dharavi’s local salons, the price of a haircut jumped from ₹50 to ₹150. In upscale Gurugram studios, the "Signature Kohli" cost ₹2,500 and included a beard contouring and a shot of espresso.
In reality, Anushka had simply said, "Why don’t you let it be natural for once?" For three weeks, he sported the "curly mop." Then, he scored a century in Perth. The narrative flipped: The messy hair is the new aggressive hair. He was sending a signal: comfort over vanity. But two Tests later, the fade returned. The brand, after all, must be maintained. In 2021, Kohli went through the worst phase of his career—no centuries, relinquished captaincy, fights with the board. His hair reflected the chaos. It grew uneven, the fade was poorly maintained, the beard looked weary.
"Has Virat given up?" tweeted a fan. "Is he depressed?" asked a news channel.