Virat Kohli fumes at ‘invasion of privacy’ after hotel room video

Superstar India cricketer Virat Kohli said on Monday that he was “crazy about his privacy” after a stranger was filmed inside his hotel room in Perth.

Kohli, 33, took to social media to criticize the actions of the attacker, who took video footage of the batsman’s belongings at Crown Perth during India’s preparation for the T20 World Cup in Australia earlier this month.

Kohli wrote to his 221 million followers on Instagram, “I understand that fans are very happy and excited to see their favorite players and are excited to meet them and I have always appreciated it.”

“But this video here is horrifying and it made me feel very paranoid about my privacy.”

The hotel said it had launched an investigation and that a contractor had “stand-in”.

“If I can’t have privacy in my hotel room, where can I really expect any personal space???” Kohli said.

“I’m not okay with this kind of bigotry and complete invasion of privacy. Please respect people’s privacy and don’t treat them as an object for entertainment.”

Crown Resorts apologized for the violation and said it took immediate action.

“We are aware of an incident involving the privacy of a contractor and a guest at Crown Perth,” a Crown Resorts spokesperson told AFP.

“We apologize unconditionally to the guest involved and will continue to take necessary steps to ensure that this remains an isolated incident.

“We have zero tolerance for this behavior, and it is well below the standards we set for our team members and contractors.

“The Crown took immediate steps to rectify the issue, including launching an investigation, standing up to the individuals involved.

“The original video was also swiftly removed from the social media platform.

“We are also cooperating with the Indian cricket team and the International Cricket Council so that we apologize and will continue to work with them to advance our investigation.”

The International Cricket Council said: “The ICC is incredibly disappointed by the blatant invasion of privacy by a member of the Indian traveling team at Crown Perth during their team’s pre-event preparations ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.

“We continue to work with event hotels and security providers to ensure that this remains an isolated event and that player privacy is fully respected at all times.”

Kohli has been in fine form in the tournament with two match-winning unbeaten half-centuries, but his team’s loss to South Africa in Perth on Sunday led to a 12-run defeat.

Originally published at Pen 18