‘Making history’: Virat Kohli's ‘larger-than-life’ statue unveiled at Times Square amid T20 World Cup 2024

Duroflex, a mattress company, on June 26, announced the unveiling of a ‘life-size statue’ of Indian cricket sensation Virat Kohli at Times Square through a tweet on X. The tweet, accompanied by a video of the unveiling, has quickly gone viral, capturing the attention of cricket fans worldwide.

The statue was unveiled as India qualified for the T20 World Cup 2024 semifinals. The Men in Blue, under Rohit Sharma's captaincy, will play England on June 27.

The statue in question is, however, not a real one but a computer-generated imagery (CGI)-created virtual one. While sharing a video on YouTube, the company included “CGI” in the header itself.

The tweet from Duroflex said, "Just Unveiled: A larger-than-life statue of Virat Kohli at the iconic Times Square. This is the King's Duty; we are going global and making history! We’re delivering great sleep and great health to Virat Kohli."

Over the past decade, Kohli has earned a reputation as one of the sport's greatest players, a sentiment echoed by fans and cricket enthusiasts worldwide.

Fans flooded the comments with praise, hailing Kohli as the "GOAT" (Greatest of All Time) and celebrating his international recognition.

“Virat Kohli's larger-than-life statue unveiled at Times Square! Going global, making history,” a user named Sagar Lohatkar said on X.

Speculations are also rife within the cricket community about the possible retirement of former Indian captain Virat Kohli and current captain Rohit Sharma from the international T20 format after this World Cup

Duroflex, in May 2023, teamed up with Kohli to promote the importance of quality sleep in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Kohli's partnership with Duroflex marked his new role as its brand ambassador.

The partnership was officially announced at a press conference featuring Mathew Chandy, Duroflex's CMD and Sleep Evangelist, and Mohanraj J, the company's CEO. The leaders expressed their enthusiasm about the collaboration and its potential impact on public awareness regarding the benefits of quality sleep, as per various media reports.

Reacting to the statue unveiling, another user said, “Huge respect for Virat and his achievements for India. But reality is India has not won any ICC tournament since a decade. Hum logo ko galat direction diya jata hai to be player centric rather than team center (sic).”