Anushka Sharma Blamed For Loss, Not Credited For Win: Sports Fans Hypocrisy Exposed After India's CT 2025 Victory

Anushka Sharma is one of the WAGS (Wives and girlfriends of sportsmen) who often takes the stands during the critical matches played by the Indian cricket team. The actress makes headlines almost every time for supporting the team and cheering for her husband and former skipper Virat Kohli. However, more often than not, a certain section of cricketing fans are quick to blame the Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi star for the underperformance of her husband, especially when the team faces an unfavourable result. These trolls remain largely absent when the team emerges victorious - as in India vs New Zealand Champions Trophy 2025, during which Kohli emerged as a star batter throughout the tournament. This exposes the hypocrisy of the fans who are quick to blame the actress for the team's losses but give her no credit for the wins.

Toxicity of sports fans exposed!

Anushka Sharma (and select spouses of other sportsmen) often face the brunt on social media following a bad outcome of a cricket match. The actress is blamed for her husband being ‘distracted’, ‘not being in the game', ‘unfocussed’ and ‘inattentive’ when he performs badly. The actress has even been called a ‘panauti’ by fans of the Indian cricket team and has been asked to sit out the matches, blaming her presence for the losses. However, the criticism does not translate into appreciation when the batsman's performance leads the team to victory.

Also Read: Punishing The Wrong Sharma: Anushka-Virat Fans Slam BCCI For Proposing Stricter Rules Against WAGs Accompanying Cricketers
 

In fact, the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) recently proposed new rules following the Men's Indian Cricket Team's unsatisfactory performance at the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The officials have proposed that wives and families of cricketers cannot accompany the player for more than two weeks on a tour of over 45 days. This also ignited a social media frenzy with netizens accusing authorities of shifting the blame on WAGs rather than reprimanding the players themselves for the bad performance.

Also Read: Anushka Sharma, Virat Kohli Mushy Moments After India's Champions Trophy Win Break The Internet
 

However, this time when the actress was present in the stands when India clashed with New Zealand in the finals and Australia in the semi-finals, she received none of the credit for the victories. One might argue that Anushka Sharma getting credit for Team India's win does not make sense. Mirroring this sentiment, the Bollywood star getting trolled for her husband's bad outcomes should also be reprimanded. Fans of the actress have time and again stressed that she put her career on the back burner to take care of her family and support Virat Kohli's career, only to face heat from ‘toxic’ sports fans.

When Sania Mirza, Twinkle Khanna called out the ‘toxicity’ of wives being blamed for bad performances 

The pattern of the wife being blamed and questioned when a tragedy strikes is not restricted to sports. Even actors' wives are targeted for their bad box office outcomes, divorce rumours, cheating allegations and rude behaviour. Most recently, Kareena Kapoor bore the brunt of social media when her husband Saif Ali Khan was mysteriously stabbed by an intruder in their house. Former actress and columnist Twinkle Khanna took to her Instagram account to write, “This Sunday it’s all about why Biwis are clearly not considered number 1 except when it comes to taking the blame. ‘After an actor was stabbed, ridiculous rumours swirled that his wife hadn’t been at home or had been too intoxicated to help him during the assault. People just enjoyed shifting the blame onto the wife — an all-too-familiar pattern.” Citing examples she wrote, “When the Beatles split, people blamed Yoko Ono. Melania is often criticised for being silent or having limited public opposition to her husband’s policies. Jill Biden has been held responsible for pushing Joe to continue his campaign. When Virat Kohli gets out, then Anushka gets booed. This is a widespread issue, not limited to couples in the public eye. If your husband gains too much weight, you are not taking care of his health; if he loses too many kilos, you are not feeding him well. If he’s caring, they’ll claim you’ve manipulated him; if he’s indifferent, they’ll blame you for not handling him right.”

Also read: Mirroring In Relationship: Virushka Match Moments Is The Perfect Example

Earlier, tennis champion Sania Mirza, at the India Economic Summit hit out at wives and partners of cricketers not being allowed on tours, saying such attitude stems from a "deeper problem which says that a woman is a distraction she cannot be a strength". "Many a time, including our cricket team and in many teams I have seen that wives or girlfriends are not allowed on tour because the boys will be distracted. What does that mean? What is it that the women are doing that is going to distract the men so much?" Mirza asked. She further said, "Anushka Sharma is blamed if Virat makes a zero, like what does that have anything to do with anything? It makes no sense." Her comments, at the time, went viral corroborating that Anushka Sharma and other celebrity wives are often blamed for the bad performances of their husbands.