Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma ring in New Year 2026 with family and friends as their Instagram posts cross millions of likes.

Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma welcomed the New Year 2026 with their close friends and family. Several pictures of the Indian cricket star celebrating the occasion have gone viral on social media. In the photos, Kohli can be seen with Anushka, his brother Vikas Kohli, and a few close friends.

Kohli also shared a photo with Anushka Sharma on Instagram, which marked his first social media post of the year. He used an emoticon in the caption, and the picture received over five million likes within three hours.

Earlier, Kohli’s final post of 2025 carried a special message for Anushka. “Stepping into 2026 with the light of my life @anushkasharma,” he wrote on Instagram. That post attracted nearly four million likes in less than an hour.

Kohli enjoys family time before cricket returns

Kohli is currently spending quality time with his family before returning to cricket action. He is set to feature in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the India vs New Zealand ODI series.

Kohli close to historic world record

The Indian batter is just 25 runs away from breaking a major world record held by Sachin Tendulkar. Kohli needs 25 runs to complete 28,000 runs in international cricket and could become the fastest cricketer to reach this milestone.

Kohli will be in action during the upcoming ODI series against New Zealand, starting January 11. If he achieves the feat, he will become only the third batter to reach 28,000 international runs, after Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara.

Sachin reached the milestone in 644 innings, while Sangakkara did so in his 666th innings. Kohli, meanwhile, has already scored 27,975 runs in just 623 innings, giving him a strong chance to surpass Sachin’s record during the New Zealand series.

Strong domestic form for Delhi

Kohli has also been in excellent form at the domestic level. Playing for Delhi, he scored 131 and 77 in his first two matches.

During this phase, he also became the fastest batter to reach 16,000 List A runs, achieving the landmark in his 330th innings. This bettered Sachin Tendulkar’s record, who reached the same milestone in 391 innings.

Early arrival possible for ODI series

According to a BCCI source, while the Indian ODI squad for the New Zealand series is scheduled to assemble in Vadodara by January 8, there is a chance that Kohli may arrive a day earlier to begin training.

The three-match ODI series against the Black Caps will begin at the same venue on January 11.