It demands explanations, puts unfair expectations and blames us for the failures of men. 

Which brings me to things which have been said about the very talented and intelligent, Anushka Sharma. 

The actor/producer has been blamed for her husband, Virat Kohli’s poor performances since the time the two made their relationship public. Because Virat, obviously, is incapable of making mistakes on his own, right?

She has stood up for herself, made it very clear that she does not appreciate being targeted; but people, as we know them, don’t learn.

Here are a few instances of Anushka bearing the brunt of being the ‘wife of the Indian cricket captain’. As if there is nothing more to her existence. 

1. I’ll start with the most recent one. In an IPL match between RCB and Kings XI Punjab, Virat Kohli failed to take 2 catches that proved to be every expensive for his side. 

So obviously, he became a butt of jokes on the internet. But soon, Anushka got dragged into the whole narrative because of this one line used by ‘the eloquent legend’, Sunil Gavaskar, while Virat was batting.

Inhone lockdown mein toh bas Anushka ki gendon ki practice ki hai.

It led to a furor on social media, with some rational people supporting Anushka and many, giving justifications on behalf of the former cricketer – saying that he was referring to a viral video of Anushka and Virat playing cricket on their terrace.

Just to be clear, no matter what he was referring to, that comment was unnecessary. And the same was explained to him by Anushka herself. 

2. Something very similar happened last year, too, when former Indian cricketer Farokh Engineer said that he had seen members of the selection committee fetching tea for Anushka.

He made this comment while criticising the selection panel for doing a bad job at the World Cup, which happened earlier in 2019. His exact words being:

All they (the selectors) were doing was getting Anushka Sharma cups of tea. I feel people with the stature of Dilip Vengsarkar should be in the selection committee.

Again, Anushka had to come out and explain what had happened. She released a statement, where she mentioned that these stories where fabricated and a sexist attempt to malign her image.

Later, Farokh said that he ‘never meant to demean Anushka’. Sure!

3. During 2016 T20 World Cup, people started making fun of Anushka, saying a million things, including the ‘joke’ that Virat is performing well because of their breakup. 

Things got so bad that ultimately Virat put up a post in support of his then-girlfriend. He tweeted a picture that read ‘SHAME’, and wrote, “I don’t need any respect for this post. Have some compassion and respect her.”.

4. Before that, in 2015, Virat failed to score big against the Aussies in the ODI World Cup semi-final. Anushka, who was present in Australia at the time, was subjected to many sexist and offensive comments. 

Case in point:

5. In 2018, Anushka’s supposed involvement in Virat’s game, became a topic of discussion after RCB’s repeated defeats. Because obviously.

After the team’s loss to CSK.

To KKR.

To anyone, really. 

So you see, the ordeal never stops for her. Whether Virat is playing well or not, doesn’t matter. People find a way to drag her into the narrative. 

And just to let you know, there’s a lot of stuff being said about her after the couple announced her pregnancy earlier this year. It has nothing to do with cricket, but, you know, the internet…

Anushka is a fine actor, she is one of the most successful young producers in India. There is a lot that can be said and written about her, but no, people go with these comments. 

She deserves better. All women do.