After Virat Kohli-Avneet Kaur drama, Rishabh Pant caught in photo-liking controversy

Just days after social media went wild over the alleged Instagram activity involving Virat Kohli and actress Avneet Kaur, another Indian cricket team superstar has found himself in the middle of an unexpected storm on social media, and he is none other than Rishabh Pant.

Yes, this time, Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is trending on social media, but not for his on-field heroics. He has turned heads for frequently liking a digital creator’s posts on Instagram amid the ongoing second Test between India and England at Edgbaston.

After Virat Kohli-Avneet Kaur drama, Rishabh Pant's Insta activity trends online

Fans have spotted that Pant has been frequently liking Instagram posts of Mia Zelu, a digital creator and AI influencer. Her glamorous and bold content has gained massive attention online, and now India’s Test vice-captain’s repeated engagement with her posts has raised eyebrows.

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Read Also: Rishabh Pant hits historic career-high in ICC Test Rankings, sets sights on dethroning Joe Root

The screenshots of Rishabh Pant’s Instagram activity are making the rounds across fan pages, with many fans trolling the cricketer by mentioning that she is just an AI influencer who currently has 143K followers. Well, it is yet to be cleared whether Pant is following Mia Zelu, as she kept her followers secret.

While some fans hailed the left-handed batter for playing smart by preferring an AI personality for interest, many fans trolled Rishabh Pant for his activity on the photo-sharing platform after the Virat Kohli-Avneet Kaur episode that rocked social media a few months ago.

.@RishabhPant17 This is an AI account brother pic.twitter.com/N88wcpOV9p

— Gems of Simps (@GemsOfSimps) July 2, 2025

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A post shared by 𝑀𝑖𝑎 𝑍𝑒𝑙𝑢 ♡ (@miazelu)

What was the Virat Kohli-Avneet Kaur drama?

Social media went crazy after Virat Kohli liked one of the Instagram posts of actress Avneet Kaur in May. Avneet had shared a few stylish photos of herself on Instagram, wearing a green top and printed skirt. Fans were loving the pictures, but what really grabbed eyeballs was a "like" from Kohli.

The post instantly started trending. But soon after, the like suddenly disappeared, and fans started guessing whether it was a mistake, a glitch, or something else. With the buzz getting louder, Kohli took to Instagram Stories to clear the air and stop the rumors.

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Kohli had written on his Instagram story, “I’d like to clarify that while clearing my feed, it appears the algorithm may have mistakenly registered an interaction. There was absolutely no intent behind it. I request that no unnecessary assumptions be made. Thank you for understanding.”

Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant is currently playing in the ongoing five-match Test series in England. However, India lost the first Test by five wickets, but Pant scripted history by smashing centuries in both innings at Headingley, becoming the first Indian cricketer to do so.

India fight back after early blow in Birmingham, Yashasvi Jaiswal hits fifty

Speaking about the ongoing second Test in Birmingham, India had a decent first session after being asked to bat first by England. Chris Woakes bowled a fiery opening spell and dismissed KL Rahul for just 2 and troubled the Indian batters. But once Woakes was taken off, the Indian batters scored runs.

Josh Tongue gave away runs at a high rate, allowing Yashasvi Jaiswal and Karun Nair to build a solid partnership of 80 runs for the second wicket. Jaiswal looked in control and brought up another fine half-century.

Just when India looked set to dominate the session, Brydon Carse struck with a sharp delivery to remove Nair for 31 runs off 50 balls at Edgbaston. Presently, India’s score stands at 98/2 in 25 overs before lunch against England.