Former India captain Virat Kohli was recently spotted in London with a grey beard, alongside Shashikiran Shivaiah Maruthi. The photo instantly went viral on social media, leaving many people wondering who the person standing next to Kohli is and why they met.
To solve the riddle, Shashikiran, better known as Shash Kiran, is a consulting CEO at Prime Sports and Media. The organisation in question was a sports consultancy and marketing agency based in the United Kingdom. Shashi is also a Full-Time Director and Head of Operations at Citi Global Wealth EMEA, where he is in charge of developing and implementing top-tier operational models to ensure long-term client service delivery.
“With over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, I am a seasoned business and program leader who has successfully managed and delivered large transformational and mission-critical initiatives. I have deep domain expertise in commercial lending, corporate and investment banking, securities, and mutual funds, as well as in private banking and wealth management,” Shashi’s Linkedin bio reads.
Grey beard the reason behind Virat Kohli Test retirement
Speaking of Kohli, he was last seen in action during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, where he helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to their maiden IPL title after 18 years. The star batter retired from T20Is after clinching the 2024 T20 World Cup, and bid farewell to Test cricket just before the England tour. At an event in England last month, Kohli opened up about his decision to retire from Test cricket.
“I just coloured my beard two days ago. You know it’s time when you are colouring your beard every four days,” had said at the YWC Gala event in July.
The Indian men’s cricket team will not play any international matches in August 2025. In September, they will travel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the T20 Asia Cup 2025, running from September 9 to 28 across two venues. In October, India will host West Indies for two Tests before heading to Australia for a three-match ODI and five-match T20I series. Kohli is expected to be seen in action mostly during the Australian ODIs.
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