Historically, Kohli uses his hair to signal his mental state. The spiky look of 2012 signaled aggression. The bun of 2019 signaled maturity and lockdown pragmatism. The return to the classic cut in 2023 signaled a hunger for test cricket.
The majority of Gen Z fans went wild. "He looks 25 again," tweeted one user. "This is the cleanest fade on a 37-year-old athlete I have ever seen." Fashion critics at GQ India praised the "undone texture," calling it the ultimate antidote to the boring, slicked-back "CEO look" that has dominated cricket fashion for five years.
"It’s a 'don't care, but actually care a lot' cut," explains celebrity barber Raju Yadav. "He’s telling the world: 'I’m still sharp, but I’m done trying to impress you with perfection.' The messy top suggests chaos; the perfect fade suggests control. It’s Kohli in a nutshell." Within six hours of the first Instagram post from his workout session (a deadlift video where the new fringe flopped heroically), the internet fractured into two camps.