Anushka Sharma shared this image. (Image courtesy: anushkasharma)
After Anushka Sharma and her daughter were captured on live camera at an India vs South Africa match, the actress and her husband Virat Kohli have explained that she had been caught off-guard and did not realise the camera was on her and baby Vamika. Anushka and Vamika, who turned one recently, were spotted in the VIP stand watching Virat Kohli and Team India play South Africa in the ongoing series. Vamika's face was revealed in the shot and screenshots have since gone viral on social media. The broadcast and viral photos have angered several fans who demand the tweets sharing the pictures be deleted; others have questioned why Anushka had lifted her toddler up if she didn't want her face shown – Anushka and Virat are fiercely private when it comes to pictures of Vamika.
In an Instagram story, Anushka Sharma clarified that she didn't mean to allow Vamika to be filmed, repeating her request that photos of her daughter not be taken or shared. She wrote: “We realise that our daughter's images were captured at the stadium yesterday and widely shared thereafter. We want to inform everyone that we were caught off-guard and didn't know that the camera was on us. Our stance and request on the matter stays the same. We would really appreciate if Vamika's images are not clicked/published for reasons we have explained earlier.”
See Anushka Sharma's Instagram story here:
Screenshot of Anushka Sharma's Instagram story
Photos of Anushka Sharma holding Vamika in her arms at the match went vial on Sunday after they were picked up on the broadcast cameras. One tweet that shared the pictures read,
"Vamika gonna trend today. Am pretty sure 71st is coming and king will dedicate this to his lucky charm Vamika." The '71st' is a reference to the number of centuries Virat Kohli has scored - 70 so far. Opinion was divided in the comments thread; one response read: "Please respect their privacy and delete this." Another asked why Anushka had not been more careful with cameras around.
Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli have previously requested media and fans not to circulate photos of Vamika. Last month, the actress posted a note thanking the media for not publishing pictures that had been taken of the couple with their daughter.
In her note, Anushka Sharma wrote: " We are deeply thankful to the Indian paparazzi and most of the media fraternity for not publishing pictures/videos of Vamika. As parents, our request to the few who carried the images/video will be to support us going forward. We seek privacy for our child and would like to do our best to give her a chance to live her life freely away from media and social media. As she is older we cannot restrict her movement and hence your support is needed so kindly practice restraint in the matter. A special thank you to fans clubs and people of the internet for going out of your way to not post images."
Vamika turned one earlier this month. Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli married in 2017 and welcomed their daughter in January 2021.