Sportswear giant creates unique birthday tribute for Kohli

Bringing together thousands of Virat Kohli fans, leading sportswear brand Puma, in a unique birthday tribute, created a massive mural of the Indian batting maestro by using 5000 red cricket balls at Mumbai's Carter Road Amphitheatre on Saturday.

A 20ft-by-20ft mural of Kohli's face was created in a marathon nine-hour activity that began at 8:00 am.

"Virat Kohli is a modern-day cricket legend and has a special place in the fans' heart. He is an inspiration to not only a legion of fans but even the professionals associated with the game.

"It was our endeavour to bring them all together and make it a special birthday celebration for one of the most complete batsmen of this era," said Abhishek Ganguly, Managing Director, PUMA India and Southeast Asia.

What made the celebration even more special was the presence of Kohli's childhood coach, Rajkumar Sharma.

"It looks amazing and very creative from team PUMA and I will definitely send it to Virat as well. It fills my heart with great pride to see him getting so much love," Sharma said.

Several other sports personalities who were present at the event included inspirational 94-year-old sprinter Bhagwani Devi, footballer Glan Martins and Anwar Ali, cricketer Anuj Rawat and swimmer Srihari.