In a recent interaction with tennis star Sania Mirza, prominent Indian filmmaker and Bollywood personality Karan Johar admitted that he will never provide an invitation to ace Indian cricketer Virat Kohli on his popular chat show Koffee With Karan. The last cricketers to have appeared on the show were in 2019 when Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul made an appearance in the season opener.

Karan was recently involved in an interaction with Sania, the ace tennis pro from India. After several topics had been discussed, a rapid-fire round followed in which Sania asked Karan which celebrity has turned down. Karan took the charming actor Ranbir Kapoor's name. He elaborated that Ranbir had earlier appeared on the show. However, he has declined returning since the past three seasons. 

When Sania took Virat Kohli's name by pressing further, Karan paused and replied that he had never approached the former Indian skipper after what had gone down in his episode involving Hardik and Rahul.

“I have never asked Virat. And now, I’m not asking any cricketers after what happened with Hardik and Rahul,” stated Karan, as quoted by The Times of India. 

For the unversed, the infamous episode from 2019 made headlines after Hardik received severe backlash after his comments at various instances of the episode were labelled as sexist and grossly inappropriate by the media and the public in general. Public apologies were issued, and the players were handed temporary suspensions by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

During the height of the controversy, even Kohli, who was the captain of the team during that time, distanced himself from the views which were expressed on the show. He disowned the opinions made by the cricketers and clearly mentioned that the Indian team did not agree with such remarks and opinions. Ever since that controversy, cricketers have not been approached by the Bollywood producer.

While Rahul played the recent three-match ODI series against Australia, Hardik missed out on the white-ball tour after sustaining an injury to his left quadriceps during an Asia Cup 2025 clash in the UAE. India will next play an all-format series against South Africa at home. The assignment will comprise two Tests, three ODIs and five T20Is.